Welcome to Paradise
by Ty3
Summary: Have Sam and Dean Winchester finally met their match? She’s 5’6” and her right hook ain’t great, but watch out for those steeltoed boots.
1. Chapter 1

Welcome to Paradise

Disclaimer: Dean, Sam, and the whole Supernatural gang aren't mine. Yet! Also, title came from the Green Day song and subsequent chapter titles will probably also be from songs that are not mine. For example, chapter one's title is from Metallica's Fuel. The full lyrics of the songs from which the chapter titles are taken should (hopefully) be relevant to the chapter. If you want, I can put the lyrics in after the chapter title, but I was hoping not to have to, to tell the truth. Ah, hell, I'll just do it.

Summary: Have Sam and Dean Winchester finally met their match? She's 5'6" and her right hook ain't great, but watch out for those steal-toed boots.

Rating: T

A/N: This basically came to me while reading a number of different fanfictions in which authors like myself have desperately struggled to add a strong, female character into the lives of the Winchesters. I think that the absence of one makes us all want to correct the situation in one way or another. Some of our stories may be more plausible than others (which we hastily correct by labeling the fic AU), but the overriding theme is that those boys need a chick along for the ride. So, I figure, why the hell try to create a girl who wants to travel with the Winchester boys when I have myself around, perfectly willing to do the job? So, without any further ado, this is basically a story of what I would do should I run into the Winchesters (oh, God, please. I know they're fictional and all, but please). If you have any suggestions about what you might do, feel free to throw them my way, too.

Chapter One: Give Me Fuel…

_Give me Fuel, _

_Give me Fire, _

_Give me that, which I desire, _

_Ooh! _

_Turn on...I see red _

_Adrenaline crash & crash my head _

_Nitro Junkie, Paint me dead _

_And I see red… _

_One hundred plus through Black and White _

_War Horse, Warhead _

_Fuck 'Em Man, white knuckles tight _

_Through Black & White _

_Ohhh, On I Burn, _

_Fuel is pumping engines, _

_Burning hard, loose & clean _

_And I burn, _

_Churning my direction, _

_Quench my thirst with Gasoline _

_So, give me Fuel, _

_Give me Fire, _

_Give me that, which I desire…_

Ty kicked vehemently at the meticulously groomed lawn of the nearby cemetery, pleased when she left a scar resembling a divot left by a terrible golfer. The damn cemetery deserved it for being so exceptionally…boring. Where were the ghosts, the monsters, hell, the homeless people? Besides the corpses, she was amazingly alone in the middle of a bustling city of nearing three million. How was this possible? Sure, this part of town was sort of suburbia just cozying up to the big city, but still. There should be something, anything. Any little tiny blip in the haze of normalcy that would alleviate the doldrums that were her life.

Ty sighed dramatically and plopped down on the steps to the single mausoleum to grace the cemetery grounds. She'd gone to all this trouble for nothing. She'd geared up in her steal-toed combat boots (army surplus store, $20), her boy's cargo pants (girl's pants never had the nice, big pockets), her favorite tank top (she thought it made her look tough, but also showed nice cleavage), and her newly acquired leather jacket (to go with the leather, Harley Davidson motorcycle gloves she was also wearing. She didn't own a motorcycle and the gloves alone had cost $50, but damn, they looked cool). She'd stuffed a dagger into her right boot and a switch blade into her pocket along with some salt, a lighter and a wooden stake. She'd even dredged up the expensive cross necklace her mother had given her that she rarely wore. She'd prepared the whole ensemble in a painstaking attempt to liven up her life. Okay, admittedly this was a little crazy. Here she was, out in the middle of the night, looking for trouble. And not just any kind of trouble either. She was not only admitting to a belief in the supernatural, she was actively seeking it out in what must be the most bumbling, amateur fashion known to man. But hey, not everyone could be Jason and Grant and get a Sci-Fi channel camera team to back them up. And apparently, not everyone could be Buffy Summers, either.

"Would it help if I took off most of my clothes and ran screaming through the dark in my underwear?" Ty asked the silent graveyard petulantly, "That always seems to work in the movies."

The rows of tombstones remained noiseless, almost mocking her with their refusal to yield up any sort of abnormal activity. Ty heaved another sigh and leaned back against the cold, stone building. She figured that if she couldn't hunt ghosts, she may as well reflect on her life by moonlight. That was her usual nighttime activity, anyway.

Ty was not her real name. Sadly, her parents hadn't had her future coolness in mind when they'd selected a name for her. And, all in all, she felt it rather unfair that she had no say in the matter and so, she'd decided to give herself a cooler nickname by which she could refer to herself. And, with the help of the Internet and the numerous opportunities it provided to create a new identity, she had fairly successfully recreated herself. Rather than admitting to her heritage as the average daughter of an average middle-to-low income dysfunctional family in an average locale in America, she had identified herself as Ty, the emerging ghost hunter, novelist, and bad ass of the Southwest. Unfortunately, claiming to be a ghost hunter was proving much easier than actually hunting anything paranormal. For one, the damn paranormal seemed to be perfectly content not to show itself.

"I gotta get outta this town." Ty told herself for what must be the millionth time.

At age twenty and three-quarters, Ty was dying with the need to leave this place where she had been born and raised. She needed to get away and see the world, or at least as much of it as she possibly could. Rather than feeling like home, the valley of her birth felt like a cage. So, naturally, she'd thought that if she could just find a good hunt, she could get herself started on a life of adventure. Now she was feeling like this whole thing was going to be another classic case of failure to launch.

"This is a total bust." she finally admitted, pushing herself back to her feet and trudging dejectedly back to her car.

The 666 on her license plate made her feel aggravated instead of amused and the Metallica that blared from the speakers when she started the engine only served to remind her of the pent-up energy inside of her that seemed to have been building since she hit thirteen. Since she couldn't take her frustration out on anything else, she decided to target her car, throwing it into reverse and slamming on the accelerator, before switching it up into drive without stopping. The tires peeled out a little, making her feel slightly satisfied before she left the gravel lot and pulled out onto the street. A voice of reason sounded in her head, reminding her that she shouldn't be traveling at twenty miles over the speed limit on a street she knew to be crawling with cops at this hour of the night. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to slow more than five miles, deciding to instead just keep an extra-cautious eye out for patrol cars.

She didn't want to go home. That much was for certain. And since she was not technically twenty-one yet, most bars and clubs were out of the question although she definitely could use a drink. Not that she was big on alcohol or anything, but her current mood simply demanded that she satisfy it by either putting herself into a drunken stupor or beating the crap out of something. Frowning to herself, Ty let her mind wander through the list of names in her cell, wondering who would be awake at this hour and able to satisfy one of these needs. Her frown deepened when she realized that her ex-boyfriend was the only person she knew satisfying these requirements.

"I'm not calling him." she muttered, cranking her stereo up louder as if to drown out the mere idea of it.

So, instead she willed her brain to think of an alternative. She really wasn't that shy of twenty-one and most places these days simply assumed she was of age, especially since she looked older than her years (or so she'd been told). Maybe she should just chance getting carded and head for a bar. That had to be a better idea than asking her ex to get her drunk, especially if he went so far as to ask her what was wrong and she had to explain her whole crazy plan. Yeah, definitely better to avoid that. Everyone she knew already thought she was weird; she didn't need to tip the scales to insane. And that's what they'd think. She knew it deep down. Even her closest friends would secretly label her as certifiable if she told them that she skulked around in cemeteries at night trying to find things that weren't supposed to exist outside of urban legends and ghost stories. They would tell her that she watched too much TV and needed to get a real life. But not a one of them would be able to explain to her what was so damned great about their so-called "real life." What was great about a shitty 9 to 5 job that she hated? What was great about settling for a mediocre existence when every fiber of her being demanded that she do something special? Maybe she had a superhero complex or something, but she couldn't give up her dream that she could do something to help people, something special that would cause her to be remembered by somebody.

She spotted a bar up ahead that she'd heard of before, but never been to and pulled into the parking lot. It must be busy because the lot was nearly packed. She cursed under her breath as she was forced to park in a remote spot in the back. This had better go well. She was already a ray of sunshine tonight, if anything else went wrong, she was liable to set the damn place on fire.

Stalking up to the door and radiating a vibe that said 'Leave me the fuck alone' in no uncertain terms, Ty entered the place. It was kind of smoky, but definitely busy. Music assaulted her ears when she opened the door along with mangled bits of a hundred different conversations. Ty wrinkled her nose in distaste at the smell of cigarettes, but stepped inside and let the door swing shut behind her. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting. She wasn't much of a bar goer and neither were most of her friends. The few that she had been to before (mainly because Dad was an idiot who used to bring his kid to drink with him before Mom found out) had been small and dark and quiet. This place was none of those things. Tables were crammed into almost every available space and people seemed to occupy every single one. Pool tables, poker tables, and even a foosball table dotted the landscape. The actual bar took up one long wall along the side, perhaps two dozen bar stools cozying up to it. Waitresses bustled among it all carrying trays piled high with various forms of beverage. People talked, the music blared, and numerous televisions added to the overall chaos. No one even noticed Ty, which she supposed was really a good thing. She meandered over to the bar, grinding her teeth in annoyance every time someone bumped into her. Ty was a firm believer in personal space. Finally, she made it to the bar and, after several minutes, managed to get noticed by one of the bartenders. She hated beer and really wanted something stronger, but her wallet wasn't thick enough at the moment to allow her to indulge in hard liquor. Mentally calling herself a sissy for not ordering something stronger and just putting it on her card, she asked for a Mike's Hard Lemonade. The bartender quickly slapped the bottle on the counter and hurried off to satisfy other requests. Ty snatched the bottle, a little surprised at how easy that was and took a long swallow. She didn't see much of a place to sit, but she didn't really mind standing either. Leaning on the bar, she surveyed the crowd, allowing herself to be a little shallow and make quick judgments about those around her without feeling too guilty about it. Some of the guys attracted her attention, making her long for more courage in the face of the opposite sex. Sure she could go looking for vampires, but when it came to flirting with strangers, she was a complete coward. She just couldn't make the first move. She didn't know why, but it was damn near impossible for her to walk up to a cute guy and say anything. If they approached her, she could be witty and snarky and all those good things, but not the other way around. Maybe that was why she had yet to find a guy to replace her ex even after all these months.

Ty finished her drink with that thought and despite the expense ordered a drink with vodka to replace the lemonade. There's nothing like dwelling on one's romantic life or lack there of to make a person want to get wasted. While nursing her new drink, Ty turned her attention back to perusing the meat market that was the bar scene. Her eyes wandered and she became lost in her own thoughts, hardly noticing when her glass was refilled, until someone brushed against her, once again violating her personal bubble in an attempt to reach the bar. She caught herself before she growled in irritation as she turned to see the offender. A smart remark died on her tongue as her eyes took in the man standing next to her, leaving her slack-jawed and speechless. He must have felt her eyes on him because he turned his head towards her and his bright, green eyes caught hers. A wide, self-assured grin appeared on his face as he took in her expression.

"Hi." eased off his tongue sensuously, making her wonder if the vodka could possibly have already gone to her head since there was no way that one little word could possibly sound that sexy.

"Hey." she managed to reply before a fit of coughing overtook her. She swore colorfully at herself internally until she managed to her lungs back under control. If anything, his grin appeared to have widened.

"Are you okay?" he asked, amusement undisguised in his voice and in his eyes.

"Fine." she replied, mentally adding, '_He most certainly is_.'

"I'm Dean." he identified himself.

"Ty." she immediately responded. Then, she wished like hell she could think of something else to say that would keep him from ending this conversation and leaving. This Dean was possibly the most attractive man she had ever seen. He would now be the standard to which she would compare other guys. And he had actually spoken to her, shown a mild interest in her. She had to prolong the interaction, but her mind was coming up blank.

"Here by yourself, Ty?" Dean asked casually, as if the answer didn't matter.

'_Say something good. Say something smart._' Ty forced a smile, "Not anymore."

Dean raised an eyebrow at that response, but his grin never wavered, "Join me for a game?"

He nodded towards the pool tables and Ty blanched a little, "I don't really play."

"I can teach you." Dean shrugged.

"No, I know how. I just really suck." Ty admitted.

How was it possible that his smile continued to get more cocky and more amused, "Even better."

Dean accepted a beer from the bartender and Ty got a refill before she let herself be guided towards the pool tables, forming protests, but letting them die before they made it all the way out of her mouth. At least he was still interested. That was more than she'd hoped for.

Dean picked up the pool cues lying on the table and handed one to her. She accepted it, letting him set up the balls for the break and taking the opportunity to check him out more thoroughly. He was damn near perfect. He was her dream guy. He was totally out of her league. Seriously, she could never get a guy like him. How could she? How was she supposed to impress him when a mere glance from him made her kind of queasy?

"You can break." Dean offered, gesturing to the table.

"Right. Okay." Ty nodded, setting her drink down on the edge of the table, stepping past him and around to the other side to line up her shot. She felt Dean's eyes on her and she almost couldn't keep her hands from shaking. She really wanted to impress him, but there was just no way that was going to happen. Not at pool. Still, she could at least shoot for not looking like a total idiot. So, in order to try and save a little of her dignity, Ty took a moment to close her eyes and take a deep breath, steadying herself. She pretended this was a type of battle, forcing her nerves to calm, telling herself to ignore Dean's presence. The task was impossible, but she was at least able to push him from her foremost thoughts long enough to break. She even managed to sink a striped ball in a pocket. Relief washed through, causing a smile to appear on her face before she lifted her eyes from the table and met Dean's.

He raised one eyebrow critically and cocked his head before commenting, "Nice."

The thought sprang into her consciousness that he might think she was hustling him. That couldn't be further from the truth and she didn't want him to make this any harder and thereby increase her chances of total failure so she hastily blurted, "Just please don't make me call pockets."

He spread his hands and shook his head like the thought had never crossed his mind. Each new expression that graced his features made Ty a little weaker at the knees and she frowned slightly at her own reaction. She ducked her head and moved around the table again, ordering herself to keep it together no matter how hot this guy happened to be.

She sank one more ball before she miscalculated what was probably a simple shot, causing it to bounce off the corner of the pocket and collide with a solid, sending it into perfect position for Dean. A curse escaped her lips before she could even think about it and Dean smiled at the slip. He wasted no time edging around the table, coming to stand next to her in order to take she shot she had so conveniently provided. Ty leaned against her pool cue, wondering if he was purposefully entering her private space now and refusing to back off if that was the case. He looked back at her after completing his shot and the challenge in his eyes was clear, confirming her suspicions. Ty tilted her head to the side, silently asking him a question. He just grinned in response and turned his eyes back to the table.

Ty wasn't sure if she was relieved at not having to take more shots, impressed by his skill, or aggravated that she was losing so terribly. Dean was down to his last two solids, plus the eight-ball, when he growled in frustration, "Too many of yours in the way."

"Gee, sorry about that." Ty let her sarcasm take control.

Dean rolled his eyes at her before attempting a hopeless shot. As the white ball bounced ineffectively off the wall and past his solid, he stood up and took a step back, indicating her turn. Ty let herself concentrate on the game, her teeth catching her bottom lip as she sought to find the best course of action. She paused in indecision. Despite the fact that her stripes vastly outnumbered his solids, she didn't see any overtly obvious shots.

She felt Dean move behind her and his breath on her neck made her shiver and the little hairs at the base of her scalp stand on end, "I'd go for the twelve, corner pocket."

Ty glanced over her shoulder at him, uncertain if he was trying to sabotage her or not, "Yeah? And how's that?"

"Well, since you asked…" Dean smiled devilishly, setting his cue aside and stepping closer to her from behind.

She froze at the feel of him so close and her mind shut down as his arms came around her sides, letting his hands cover hers. He positioned her into a shot, but she was paying more attention to his breath on her neck and the heat of him, burning her even through her clothes. She took the shot, surprised when it worked and the twelve-ball disappeared into the pocket. But her mind was hardly on the game anymore and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion as she straightened from her shot and turned around in Dean's arms to face him. His eyes met hers and Ty's throat instantly went dry. She groped behind her, only glancing away from Dean for a second to locate her drink, quickly bringing it to her lips and swallowing the remainder in a long gulp. Dean's eyes trailed down her face and to her body standing so close to his while she wetted her throat. When she placed the empty glass back on the table, his gaze returned to her face. She gulped again, her throat still uncomfortably dry as she felt his question before he asked it, "Wanna go somewhere?"

In her mind, she teased him, thinking '_But what about our game?_' Out loud, however, she didn't trust her voice, so she merely nodded, still caught by his eyes and his proximity. She kind of wanted to run out of there with him, but the bill demanded paying, so he took her hand and led her back to the bar, their pool game forgotten. He slapped down cash for his beer, but was forced to wait impatiently as her card was run for what turned out to be six screwdrivers and one lemonade. She found his impatience kind of funny and almost laughed at the look on his face when her card was finally returned and they were free to go. His hand caught hers again and led her quickly towards the door.

Once outside, the sounds of the city seemed a lot like silence in comparison and the cool, night air contrasted with the stuffy heat of too many bodies in an enclosed area. Ty inhaled deeply, but her mind still felt fuzzy despite the relatively fresh air. She knew she was drunk and yet one look at Dean and she couldn't find the will to care. In fact, outside in the night with her mind buzzing from the alcohol, she felt a lot bolder, more sure of herself. So, she stopped, halting Dean's progression through the parking lot and pulled him back towards her, reaching up with her free hand to pull his face down to hers so that she could capture his lips in a kiss. The kiss was searing and the heat between them quickly built to a fever pitch. This was most definitely not like Ty, but what could she say? Guys this hot didn't usually walk into her life, she was aching for action of one kind of another, and she was a little drunk. All in all, she didn't want to do much else but jump him. So, she pushed him back into a car, sandwiching him between her and the vehicle. Her hands sought his skin under his jacket and t-shirt. But apparently, he had similar ideas because he pushed her back into the car next to that one, switching their positions and letting his hands roam. Ty moaned into his kiss, wishing her car wasn't parked so far away.

They slide around the trunk of that car and up against the next, making slow progress through the lot until Dean pushed her against the side of a convertible with a sensitive alarm. They both jumped in surprise, pausing in their exploration of each other to hurry away from the offending vehicle before the owner could appear. Nervous laughter escaped Ty as Dean gestured quickly towards a shiny black car a few rows over and they hurried towards it. Dean unlocked the door with practiced ease and pushed open the passenger side for her. Ty had to admit, although not one usually impressed by cars, this particular vehicle was very cool. She found herself slightly jealous, but her primary concern was how fast the cool car could transport them to a bed.

"Yours or…?" Dean began to ask as he turned the keys in the ignition, forcing himself to ignore the lustful look Ty was sending him for the sake of his driving.

"Yours." Ty cut him off. She still had no desire to go home yet tonight.

Dean nodded and drove. Ty found herself grinning when she recognized the music coming from Dean's stereo. Apparently she wasn't the only one who listened to Metallica. The amusement over the music soon wore off, though, and soon she was nearly bouncing in her seat as she waited for Dean to reach his destination. They drove in awkward silence until finally they pulled into the lot surrounding a motel. They both climbed out of the car without a word, Dean moving around the car to pull her back into an embrace while moving them back towards the door to a room. Ty noticed that he already had keys to the door, indicating that he had already checked in and was therefore not from around here and probably passing through. She didn't care though. If anything, it made him more appealing. He was part of that world outside her prison that she wanted so desperately to be a part of.

Dean quickly unlocked the door and pushed them through it, kicking it closed behind him without breaking contact with her. Ty noticed that the room contained two beds, but couldn't think too much of it at the moment. She was much too distracted as clothing began to hit the floor.


	2. Chapter 2

Welcome to Paradise

Disclaimer: Dean, Sam, and the whole Supernatural gang aren't mine. Yet! Also, title came from the Green Day song and this chapter title and lyrics come from the Garbage song "I'm Only Happy When It Rains."

Summary: Have Sam and Dean Winchester finally met their match? She's 5'6" and her right hook ain't great, but watch out for those steal-toed boots.

Rating: T for language and sexual content

A/N: Sorry about the delay. Hope you all are still liking this and I always adore reviewers, especially those of you who have any ideas for how to make this story better.

Chapter Two: I'm Only Happy When It's Complicated…

_I'm only happy when it rains  
I'm only happy when it's complicated  
And though I know you can't appreciate it  
I'm only happy when it rains  
You know I love it when the news is bad  
And why it feels so good to feel so sad  
I'm only happy when it rains  
Pour your misery down, pour your misery down on me  
Pour your misery down, pour your misery down on me  
I'm only happy when it rains  
I feel good when things are going wrong  
I only listen to the sad, sad songs  
I'm only happy when it rains  
I only smile in the dark  
My only comfort is the night gone black  
I didn't accidentally tell you that  
I'm only happy when it rains  
You'll get the message by the time I'm through  
When I complain about me and you  
I'm only happy when it rains  
Pour your misery down, pour your misery down on me  
Pour your misery down, pour your misery down on me  
Pour your misery down, pour your misery down on me  
Pour your misery down  
You can keep me company as long as you don't care  
I'm only happy when it rains  
You wanna hear about my new obsession?  
I'm riding high upon a deep depression  
I'm only happy when it rains_

Ty woke up with the unerring certainty that her world was upside down. She wasn't sure where she was exactly, her head was splitting in half because some jackass with a pickax must be cleaving the two halves of her brain apart, and she wasn't wearing any clothes. For some reason, that last fact shocked her more than the rest because she never went to bed without some form of pajamas. What the hell? '_Deep breaths_,' she instructed herself, and then she could open her eyes, very slowly.

Spots appeared before her eyes instantly upon opening, but when they finally cleared, she took in the sight of a male form next to her on a bed that was not her own. He was lying on his back with one arm curled around her, holding her to his warm, muscled chest, while the other scrunched the pillow up under his head. Even as her vision swam, she recognized him as the hottest man she had ever woken up next to, in her dreams or in real life. She didn't want to wake him, but a groan escaped her lips as the pounding in her head doubled with her growing consciousness and she felt nausea grow in the pit of her stomach, making her insides churn. She began to extricate herself, knowing that if she could get some bread, water and aspirin into her system she'd feel better. Her movements caused the sleeping heartthrob to stir, his arm tightening around her, refusing to let her go.

"No." he groaned.

His husky voice triggered her memory and her eyes widened at the realization of what she'd done last night. She didn't regret it (well, maybe those last couple drinks she regretted), but she was still surprised. It wasn't like her to go looking for a one-night stand and it was even more unlike her to actually complete the deal. In fact, this would be a first for her. Still, as far as one-night stands could go, she could have done a lot worse.

"Dean." his name fell from her lips almost naturally, without thought.

"Yeah?"

"I should go."

It wasn't what she wanted to say, but what else could she tell him? She barely knew this guy, her car was still back at the bar, and if she didn't get home soon, she might be missed. Doubtful, but possible. Dean sighed and released his hold on her, groaning again as he brought his fists to his eyes and rubbed at them. Ty quickly slid out of bed and retrieved her clothes, attempting to dress before he got around to opening his eyes. Dean was in no hurry to wake up, thereby allowing her to don underwear and pants before his green eyes emerged from behind heavy lids. She turned her back to him, snatching her bra from off the floor and pulling it on. She wasn't sure why, but she never really wanted anyone to watch her dress afterwards. It made her uncomfortable despite the fact that they'd already seen her naked. She couldn't explain it. Well, she could, but she didn't want to delve into her self-esteem issues.

She pulled her shirt on before turning around again to see that Dean was now sitting up. His face was expressionless as he watched her, making her wonder if he was waiting for her reaction before expressing one himself. Her first instinct was not to say anything because talking could be tricky. But, on second thought, she discarded that plan and instead gave him an awkward smile before moving towards the bed and giving him a quick kiss. She knew that this event could either be one she sorely regretted or a pleasant memory and she was determined to make it as much the latter as possible.

"Will you give me a lift back to my car?" she asked against his lips.

Dean's hand tangled in her hair, pulling her back into a deeper kiss. He slowly withdrew, leaving her kind of breathless, before smiling and replying, "Of course. But first tell me why you've got a stake and salt in your pockets."

Ty froze, feeling that familiar sensation of being a deer in headlights coming over her. What to say? What to say to random hot guy she'd slept with about her crazy desire to seek out and kill nasty things that go bump in the night? And how did random hot guy find out about that anyway? Her mind seized that second question as infinitely easier to deal with than the first and ran with it, "How did…"

"Last night, undressing you." Dean said simply as if it were the most natural thing in the world to say.

Ty couldn't help but feel indignant that he had waited until now to say something, but decided that she was just looking for excuses to avoid thinking of an answer for his question. Sighing, she decided to just spill her guts since her normally ingenious brain was not functioning properly thanks to a splendid hangover and no other options were coming to mind. She'd probably never see this guy again anyway, so what the hell?

"Okay, no speaking until I'm done, deal?" she preempted her explanation, knowing that any interruptions would keep her from getting out what she wanted to say.

Dean nodded, "Deal."

Fidgeting, Ty avoided looking at him as she forced herself to explain. It seemed like she was always trying to explain herself. And given her track record thus far and her subsequent need to hide her activities, she obviously wasn't very good at it, "So, I…uh…hunt…things."

She paused and out of the corner of her eye she saw Dean open his mouth to speak. She quickly lifted her head to glare at him, silently reminding him of their agreement. Dean shrugged and closed his mouth again, waiting for her to continue. Was it her imagination, or did he look amused?

'_Bastard thinks he bagged a nut job_.' she thought viciously. Out loud, she snapped defensively, "I'm not crazy! There's real stuff out there…and…and people get hurt and I want to help! Wanting to help people is not crazy!"

She'd started pacing as she ranted and now she paused, with her back to him, to try and regain her composure. This was definitely not how she'd hoped this would go.

"I never called you crazy." Dean said quietly, his voice making her stiffen before his words registered. Once she fully comprehended the meaning of the sounds coming from him, she turned back towards him slowly, looking for either sincerity in his face or that patronizing look people get when they're humoring volatile lunatics. She found neither, but rather a small grin and twinkling eyes, "But I still might."

Ty opened her mouth to yell at him, but all that would come out was, "Wha…?"

Dean knew something he wasn't telling her just yet, of that she was certain. He had a mischievous glint to his eyes that said '_I know something you don't know!_' and that kind of drove her crazy. There was that word again. She was going to have to find ways to get away from that word.

Dean leaned over the side of the bed towards the floor and when he resurfaced, Ty saw that he had retrieved his boxers and his jeans. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, turning his back to her and pulled them on. Ty simply stared at him, waiting for him to explain himself. She must have looked kind of stunned or something because Dean glanced at her and sort of chuckled to himself. He moved across the room and picked up a duffle bag, bringing it over to the bed and setting it down. He caught Ty's gaze, then looked down at the duffle and back up at her again. Her curiosity as to what was in it drew her closer and he stepped back to let her peruse the contents. The bag was unzipped and when Ty looked inside, she found herself looking at a pile of weapons that reminded her of her own arsenal, only much more complete: daggers, guns, pieces of iron, salt, bottles of clear liquid and lighter fluid were all jumbled together in the bag. Her hands immediately dove inside, pushing things around, touching them as if to ascertain the reality of their existence. She glanced up at Dean, then back at the bag in her hands, wondering what this all meant.

"Wha…?" she repeated.

"Is it wrong that I find this kind of hilarious?" Dean mused, seemingly oblivious to the furrowing of Ty's brow as she struggled to make this all make sense.

"Dean!" she snapped to get his attention. She gestured at his bag, then at him, and finally at herself, "What the…?"

"You ain't the only hunter in town, babe." Dean grinned, "So happens my brother and I are working the same job as you."

Dean's grin slipped for a moment and he glanced over at the second bed in the room, which had remained untouched all night, "Speaking of the little bitch, where the hell is he?"

"Hold up. You're saying that you hunt the supernatural, too?" Ty demanded.

"Well, either that or I'm just really good at stumbling into a lot of crazy shit."

"That's…that's…" Ty struggled to find the right word to express the emotion she was feeling at having inadvertently bumped into another ghost hunter, someone who actually understood what she did, didn't think it was crazy, and also happened to be amazing in bed, "…awesome!"

Dean didn't seem as thrilled about the situation as Ty. Actually, he appeared to be mostly distracted by the lack of a presence on the other bed in the room. Ty watched as he pulled a cell phone out of the pocket of his jeans and frowned at it before he dialed someone. He repeatedly shifted his weight back and forth from one foot to the other as he waited for an answer. She couldn't resist inching a little closer in order to hear whatever conversation was so important it couldn't wait.

"Dean." a male voice spoke through the phone.

"Sam! Where the hell are you?" Dean immediately demanded.

"Ah, so you care now, but not hours ago when you left me stranded at the bar." Sam complained, obviously pissed.

Dean's eyes widened slightly and he silently mouthed the word '_shit_' before replying, "Sorry about that, Sam. I…uh…"

"Left with a girl. I saw." Sam finished for him, making Dean feel a lot like he was talking to his dad rather than his little brother.

Ty winced at the realization that she had gotten in the middle of something uncomfortable.

"Knock it off, Sam. Where are you?" Dean asked, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, betraying his guilt at leaving his brother behind.

"I'm in the backseat of the Impala 'cause I didn't want to come in with you two…in there." Sam finally revealed his location.

Dean relaxed now that he knew his brother was okay and the grin that normally graced his features slowly returned, "Hey, do me a favor, dude, and give me another fifteen minutes."

"You're a jerk."

"What?" Dean asked, feigning innocence, "It's not my fault women love me."

Ty rolled her eyes while Sam made a disgusted noise and hung up. Dean shook his head and returned his phone to his pocket. When he turned back to Ty, she decided to resume the conversation they'd been having before he'd decided to make a call. That's what this was about after all; they were both hunters and he was here in her town for a reason.

"Are you here hunting something?" she demanded.

"We're definitely not sight-seeing." Dean shrugged. His gaze became critical, "Wait, aren't you?"

"I live here. I've been looking, but I haven't found anything yet." Ty answered.

Dean took a step closer to her, his eyes still searching. Ty suddenly felt very on the spot and she looked around the room for anything else to look at besides Dean. His imposing presence, however, demanded her attention and she found herself looking up at him regardless.

"How many hunts have you actually been on?" Dean asked.

Ty's gaze slide sideways, "A couple."

"A couple? And on how many of those did you actually find something?" Dean continued to interrogate.

Ty's eyes flew back up to meet his, fire leaping to them as anger surged through her veins. She was embarrassed enough about her inexperience, he didn't need to make a big deal about it, "Okay, so I'm kind of new at this. Lay off!"

Dean was slow to reply. All the amusement had drained from his face. He looked at Ty, completely serious, and she forced herself to push her observations of his bare chest out of her mind and concentrate on their dialogue.

"Have you been hunting by yourself?"

"So what?" Ty shrugged.

A deep frown pulled down the corners of Dean's mouth. Ty recognized the look on his face and prepared herself for a scolding. She really had to resist the urge to roll her eyes again.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Dean berated, "Hunting solo when you don't even know what you're doing, you must have a death wish!"

Ty planted her hands on her hips, "What makes you think I don't know what I'm doing?"

Dean gave her a level glance, "Oh, come on, sweetheart."

Ty felt her temper getting the better of her, "Well, if you're so great, how should I learn?"

"You shouldn't."

"Fuck that! I'm doing this no matter what you or anyone says! Either help me or get out of my way." Ty declared, glowering at him.

Green eyes met her blue, clashing brilliantly. Despite the fact that he was bigger and probably stronger than she was, Ty was dangerously close to punching him or something. Without conscious thought, her hands had already balled into fists. There was just no way she was backing down. Just because he was more experienced at hunting didn't give him any right to deny her the opportunity to do the same.

But she could be startled out of anger, which Dean proved when he suddenly grasped her face in his hands and kissed her. Now her heart was pounding for a completely different reason as she found herself being pulled against that sexy chest that had been distracting her throughout their argument.

"Jesus, Dean, I thought you were joking."

Ty leapt back away from Dean, spinning towards the new presence in the room. He was tall with shaggy brown hair that stuck up at odd angles, presenting an interesting case of bed-head. He was very cute and Ty found herself wondering if this was the brother Dean had mentioned and, if so, what the hell kind of super genes ran in their family.

"Obviously not so why don't you go get us some coffee, Sammy?" Dean asked, well aware that he was being an exceptional jerk to his brother between last night and this morning.

Ty's eyes flew between the two brothers and she recalled the phone conversation she'd overheard and the empty bed in the room. Immediately, she realized that bed was meant for Sam and that on account of her, he'd been left to fend for himself and had been unable to get to his bed. Feeling guilty and not wanting to start on the wrong foot any more than she already had, Ty stepped forward and held her hand out to Sam.

"Sorry. I'm Ty." she said.

"Sam." he returned as he shook her hand.

"Sam," Ty echoed. She quickly decided to give him a straightforward apology because her first impression of him, despite his obvious annoyance about the situation, was that he was a sweet guy, "I'm really sorry about all this. I didn't know you were there together and he was your ride."

Sam shook his head and smiled slightly at the apology, "No, it's not _your_ fault."

"Quit it, both of you." Dean interrupted, "Forget it, Sam. I'll go get us some breakfast. I've got to drop Ty off anyway."

As he spoke, Dean pulled a shirt on and headed for the door. Ty frowned, grabbing her jacket and following as she attempted to pull on shoes and socks at the same time. After all this, she'd kind of been hoping that Dean would suddenly decide to let her tag along on whatever hunt they were currently involved in. She needed to learn and he didn't want her to hunt without learning, so it seemed to her to be the perfect solution. Not that she cared what he thought or anything. It was just that this was too complicated to be a coincidence, them hooking up. It must have happened for a reason and she was convinced that reason was so that Dean and his brother, Sam, could show her the ropes and maybe even get her out of this stupid city. And despite the fact that this all wasn't going exactly according to her plan, she was actually rather happy about all this. It was the break in normalcy that she'd wanted. She couldn't be too upset since she'd gotten what she wanted, right?

"No, I'm coming with." Sam announced, "You always get greasy doughnuts."

"You say that like there's something wrong with greasy doughnuts."

Ty felt a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth in response to their interchange. She'd only seem them together for a couple minutes and she could already tell that they were really close. She wasn't like that with anyone in her family. She wondered what that would be like for a moment before dismissing the thought as pointless.

The three piled into the Impala, Ty taking the backseat. She could barely stand to keep her eyes open out in the sunlight; it hurt her head too much. Her hangover had taken a backseat for a moment to her confrontation with Dean, but now it was back with a vengeance. She moaned again as the pain resurfaced and covered her eyes with her hands, leaning back into the seat.

"Sam, find her some painkillers. She's got a hangover." Dean muttered quietly to his brother as he turned down the radio.

Ty could just about have forgotten any residual anger she might still have felt towards Dean and kissed him for that. She heard Sam digging around, but didn't dare to open her eyes or even move too much until she felt Sam taking her hand and pressing some pills into it. Ty hated dry swallowing, but she was desperate at this point so she forced herself to take the pills that way. Of course, relief wasn't instantaneous and she soon found herself wanting a distraction from the searing pain in her temples.

"So, what are you hunting?" she asked, curious to know what type of being had evaded her detection.

Her question was greeted with silence until Sam's shocked voice rang through her head at a volume too high for her current state, "She knows?"

"Yeah, she knows. Calm down, Sam. She thinks she's a hunter, too."

Ty resented the way he said that, but resolved herself to argue more with him in a few minutes after the painkillers kicked in. Or they reached her car and she could get her sunglasses. Whichever came first. Besides, Sam was already talking, "What do you mean thinks?"

"Apparently, she's decided to go looking for trouble even though she doesn't know how to deal with it." Dean explained, clearly expecting his brother to back him up in the lecturing department.

"Don't try to talk me out of it." she interjected before he could try, "And stop talking about me like I'm not here."

"Sorry." Sam said quickly, but sincerely, "Why do you want to hunt?"

Ty sensed that he was probably expecting some drawn out, super dramatic tale of how, when she was little, some supernatural entity had either killed or taken her mom/dad/grandma/dog Rover and that ever since then she had been on a quest for understanding and vengeance. That was the only sensible reason why someone would give up on the normal, American dream life and devote themselves to a calling most people didn't even acknowledge. But Ty didn't have that kind of story to tell. Truth was, her life up to this point had been exceedingly dull, almost embarrassingly so. That was the trouble, too, because Ty knew somewhere deep down that she was meant for more than that and it killed her that she had yet to prove that fact to the world. She'd half made up her mind that some wires had gotten crossed when she was born and she'd ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. So, she would do whatever was in her power to correct the situation and since the supernatural had tickled her fancy since she was old enough to read ghost stories and wonder what the truth behind them could be…well, it was only a logical progression, really. Blame a combo of the X-Files and Buffy, if you liked, but Ty was determined that the truth was, in fact, out there and that it was a tad more gruesome that most liked to admit. That's where she came in, ready and willing to save the day. But there was no use in trying to explain any of this to anyone else. Her best friend, Cade, might understand, but so what if she did? There wasn't much she could do to help change the way things were. These boys, on the other hand, they could decide to add her to their ghost fighting team and make her dreams come true. Therefore, it was absolutely crucial that she convince them that she was not a nut job and that they did, really and truly, want her along.

So, Ty shrugged and said, "Just do."

Silence descended on the car as if neither brother knew how to respond to a comment as vague as that. Ty waited as patiently as she knew how for them to make up their minds about her, but unfortunately, she had never been especially patient, "Is that so terrible?"

Still silence. Apparently Dean didn't find this hilarious anymore now that he knew she was a rookie and Sam was probably still trying to get a handle on the situation. Ty decided quickly that if they weren't going to do any talking, she might as well cut to the chase.

"Look, let me help you hunt this thing."

"No way." Dean replied immediately.

"Bad idea." Sam echoed, "It's too dangerous."

"Life is dangerous." Ty replied with another shrug, "And what's more dangerous, me hunting with you guys or me hunting alone? 'Cause it doesn't really matter what you say, I'm going to look for whatever this thing is regardless."

Ty peeked out from behind her hands and found that she could almost stand the light. She squinted through the windshield at something that looked vaguely like the parking lot where she'd left her car. When Dean pulled into it, her suspicions were confirmed. They pulled up to her car and stopped. Still the boys had yet to respond to her and Ty was getting a little worried about what they were not saying. She stubbornly remained in the backseat and waited for them to speak.

"Ty, could you give us a minute." Sam finally asked, giving her a small, awkward smile that made her think that he might possibly be arguing her side in the argument that was no doubt about to ensue between the two brothers.

"I'll be waiting right over there." Ty said, gesturing to her car, emphasizing the fact that she wasn't going anywhere.

She climbed out of the car and moved over to her own. She frowned when she realized how unappealing her car looked in comparison to Dean's, but pushed that thought out of her mind by reminding herself that she was a girl and she didn't care about cars. What she cared about was hunting bad things and her fate in that field was currently being decided. Ty pushed herself up on the trunk of her car and made herself comfortable, pulling one leg up to her body so that she could lace up her boot. She had yet to tie her shoes in the hurry out of the motel room. Her hands pulled at the laces, but her eyes remained locked on the boys in the shiny, black car and her ears strained to hear what they were saying.

"Sam, you've got that look on your face, that look I don't like."

"I think we should let her come with us."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"You heard her. She's going to go looking for stuff anyway."

"But I'm already full-time babysitting your ass. How am I supposed to look after her, too?"

"Babysitting me? Who saved you from the scarecrow? Who…?"

"Alright, shut it!" Dean looked over and Ty quickly looked down at her boots so he wouldn't catch her staring, "She's gonna get hurt, Sammy."

"That's where 'Dean to the rescue' comes in. Besides, it's not like it was with us, Dean. We're not forcing this on her, she chose it." Sam paused, "Do you think she knows what's she's getting into?"

"She doesn't have a clue. She can't. That's what worries me."

"Well, maybe once she sees what this is all about, she'll change her mind."

"Look, Sam. We can't let her come with us." Dean said in a voice that was supposed to indicate that the case was closed.

"Why not? It's just one hunt."

"'Cause it'll be really awkward! I'll admit, I thought it was kind of funny that I hooked up with someone like us, but that was before I knew that she…anyway, I wasn't planning on sticking around afterwards. Now it's gonna get all complicated and…weird." Dean whined.

A grin appeared on Sam's face, "So the real problem is that this is messing with the leave 'em stage of your love 'em and leave 'em master plan."

"Just shut up, Sam."

"You afraid she might want to be your girlfriend?"

"Shut up, Sam."

"You could be a demon hunting couple!"

"Sam, I swear to God…"

"Alright, alright." Sam said, holding up his hands in surrender, but still grinning.

Dean glared at him for a second, ensuring his silence on the subject before turning to look out the windshield again. He took his time before forcing a few words out of his mouth no matter how bad they tasted, "One hunt. That's it."

"I'll go tell her." Sam said, quickly getting out of the car before Dean could change his mind.

Ty prepared her acting abilities, prepping herself to appear like she hadn't been listening in with rapt attention and was anxiously waiting to hear what they'd decided. Inwardly, she was jumping up and down and screaming at the top of her lungs. Seriously, it felt like she might explode. It was very hard not to grin. Especially after hearing what one of Dean's major reasons for not wanting her around was and Sam's response to it. She'd almost laughed out loud, but had amazingly been able to restrain herself.

"Well?" she asked Sam when he walked up to her.

Sam smiled, "Looks like there's going to be three of us on this one."

Now that she didn't have to hide her excitement any longer, Ty let herself jump off the trunk of her car and throw her arms around Sam. She realized that she was a little strange, being this happy to be allowed to put herself in harm's way. In fact, what did that say about her as a person? Oh, well. She was finally going to get out of this stupid city and on with her life, she could feel it!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Highway to Hell

_Living easy, living free _

_Season ticket on a one-way ride _

_Asking nothing, leave me be _

_Taking everything in my stride _

_Don't need reason, don't need rhyme _

_Ain't nothing I would rather do _

_Going down, party time _

_My friends are gonna be there too _

_I'm on the highway to hell _

_No stop signs, speed limit _

_Nobody's gonna slow me down _

_Like a wheel, gonna spin it _

_Nobody's gonna mess me round _

_Hey Satan, paid my dues _

_Playing in a rocking band _

_Hey Momma, look at me _

_I'm on my way to the promised land _

_I'm on the highway to hell (Don't stop me) _

_And I'm going down, all the way down _

_I'm on the highway to hell_

Ty was almost bouncing up and down with excitement. Instead of her normal routine of trudging dejectedly through work (and by trudging she meant in the style of Paul Bettany in A Knight's Tale; "To trudge: the slow, weary, depressing yet determined walk of a man who has nothing left in life except the impulse to simply soldier on."), she was springing from one task to the next. Even the most inane and/or insane customers couldn't get to her; their words rolled off her like water. This was all highly unusual since she had to deal with people who wanted to give up or put down their pets as a day job. Not the type of place that usually came equipped with service with a smile. Especially not when you spent most of your day getting either cursed out, interrogated, or lied to on account of other people's failure to take responsibility.

"Don't worry about Rufus. He'll be fine." Ty reassured a woman who was currently sobbing hysterically before handing her a copy of her receipt and a comment card, "You're all set."

"Thank you." the woman choked out, grabbing a handful of tissues and bolting for the door.

A coworker moved next to Ty at the counter while she finished her paperwork and whispered conspiratorially in her ear, "Hey, are you high?"

"Me? 'Course not."

"You're smiling. And you're being nice." she pointed out.

"Hey, I'm nice!"

"You told someone last week that their cat was better off without them."

"It was true." Ty defended herself.

"But not something you normally say to their face." her coworker pointed out, "So, spill. What's with the new attitude?"

Ty shrugged, "Just having a good day, I guess."

"I guess. Huh, most of us call those days our days off."

Ty ignored her and looked for something else to do to keep busy. The more she kept busy, the faster the day would go by and as soon as she got off work that night, she would be meeting Sam and Dean. Although, no matter how fast the day went by, it would never be fast enough. So, while cleaning kennels and preparing vaccinations, Ty amused herself by speculating on what kind of monster she would help the boys waste. Dean still hadn't told her. Maybe they were testing her, seeing if she could figure it out on her own. She should be able to seeing as this was her town and all and she was supposed to know what was going on here. And yet, she hadn't heard of anything outside of the usual. Or maybe she just didn't know what to look for or where to look. Contemplating this until finally it was time for her lunch break, Ty decided that she couldn't take it anymore and looked up the phone number in her cell that Sam had given her. She hit dial and waited impatiently for an answer as she headed across the street to the parking lot where her car was waiting.

"Hello." Dean's voice greeted her.

"Dean, it's Ty."

"What's up?"

"Just realized that I still don't know what we're hunting." Ty said, trying not to let on that she'd been agonizing over that fact for the past four hours.

"Is that a problem?"

Ty frowned at the phone and mentally cursed Dean for the self-assured smirk that was probably on his face at that moment, "No, just wondering."

"Take a stab at it and I'll let you know if you're close."

"What is this, supernatural twenty questions?" Ty demanded, wondering how a ten-year-old got trapped in such a hot, mature body.

"Sure, babe, if that's your thing." Dean teased.

Well, Ty had to admit that she liked Dean with a sense of humor more than she liked Dean scolding her and thinking he knew better than her about what she should do with her life. Maybe she should just play along. After all, she had to prove that she wasn't all hung up over the events of last night and that she could actually function around Dean. Because, as far as she was concerned, their night together, while amazing, was not what this was all about. This was about hunting, plain and simple. Therefore, she was just going to put thoughts about her and Dean into storage for the present.

"Um…are you undead?" Ty asked, feeling extremely lame.

She could almost hear Dean's grin, "In a manner of speaking."

Ty leaned against the side of her car, thoughts of driving somewhere for lunch forgotten, "Were you once living?"

"Sure was."

"You're not a vampire, are you?" Ty asked, hopefully.

"Err! Wrong!" Dean instantly replied, doing an annoyingly accurate impression of a game show buzzer.

"Come on, just tell me!" Ty whined, not in the mood to continue playing this childish guessing game.

"Where's the fun in that?" Dean taunted. Before Ty could reply, he continued, "When do you get off work again?"

"Ten." Ty answered, "Am I still meeting you guys at the motel?"

"Yep. Hey, Sam wants to talk to you."

Ty waited as the phone was passed to the other brother, hearing muffled words before Sam's voice passed through her phone's receiver, "Ty?"

"That's me." she replied and immediately chided herself mentally for being a dork.

"You know this city pretty well, right? Like streets and navigation-wise?"

Ty heard Dean saying something in the background, but couldn't make out the words, only the tone of voice. He sounded angry. She smiled and asked, "Why, Sam? You lost?"

"Well, Dean's never lost, but…ow! Jerk! I'm just trying to help. You want to drive around in circles all day?"

"Where are you trying to get to, Sam?" Ty asked, "If I don't know where it is, I can get someone who does in about thirty seconds."

"We're looking for the DPS Headquarters on Encanto. We've been driving back and forth on this street for like a half hour and we can't find the place."

"I've never been there, but maybe I can help. What's the address?"

"2102 W. Encanto."

"Should be on the corner of Encanto and 21st Ave then. Where are you?"

"Uh…hang on. 21st and Monte Vista." Sam reported, "So far Encanto doesn't seem to exist."

"Huh." Ty said, mulling that over. Then something occurred to her and she smiled again, "Sam, are you on 21st St or 21st Ave?"

"21st St."

Ty's smile grew a little wider as her hunch proved correct, "Sam, tell your brother he's on the wrong side of town. Tell him that he needs to be on the west side of Central, hence the west in the address. West in this town equals avenues."

Ty waited as Sam told Dean the news and was rewarded with the sound of cursing. She raised an eyebrow slightly at his extensive four-letter word vocabulary, before Sam's voice in the phone drowned out some of the sound, "Thanks, Ty."

"No problem. Hey, why are you going there anyway?"

"Research." Sam replied simply.

Ty couldn't resist the chance to pump Sam for information, "Oh, yeah? What do you think we're dealing with anyway?"

"Nice try. Dean said not to tell you what we're hunting when he gave me the phone. I don't know what the deal is, but I've already pissed him off by asking you for directions."

Ty repeated a few of the words she'd just heard Dean use, extremely annoyed by the fact that they were keeping something from her. And not just anything, but an extremely important piece of information.

"Sam, put Dean on the phone." Ty finally decided.

She waited as the phone was passed back and Dean asked, "Yeah?"

"This is crap, Dean. How am I supposed to prepare when I don't even know what we're up against?" she demanded.

"That's part of the game in this line of work, sweetheart. Get used to it."

"You're not being very professional."

"Yeah, well, what're you gonna do?"

Ty growled and thought about threatening him with bodily harm, but knew that he'd just laugh off the suggestion, "Oh, forget it. See you at ten fifteen."

With that she hung up the phone. She'd only known these guys for a few hours and already she felt like she'd known them a long time. Strange since she barely knew anything about them besides their first names, the fact that they were brothers and that they hunted the supernatural. Maybe it was just a side-effect of her wishful thinking. She'd always daydreamed about someone coming along and whisking her away from this dreary place. And she was definitely clinging to the hope that these boys might be just the people to finally do that. Maybe that's why she was getting attached already. 'Course the fact that both guys were extremely cute didn't hurt, either.

A good chunk of her lunch break had already passed while she had been in conversation. With that in mind, Ty decided not to go anywhere and instead headed back across the street to sit in the break room until it was time to go back to work. Since she worked a relatively late shift, coming in at one and leaving at ten, by the time Ty took her lunch the break room was virtually deserted. Today was no exception, leaving Ty alone with her thoughts. She collapsed into a chair and flipped on the television for some background noise before she began to compose a mental list of possible opponents for tonight. Couldn't be a vampire, Dean had ruled that one out and in a very annoying fashion, no less. Perhaps it was some kind of poltergeist or…maybe a werewolf or black dog. Maybe it was even zombies! How awesome would zombies be?

Ty tried to think of some other possibilities, but her mind was coming up empty. She sighed and glanced at her watch. It was about time to go back outside and move her car to the front lot where she could keep an eye on it after hours. She paused momentarily to buy some peanut butter M&Ms from the vending machine for later before she headed back outside. Her mind was definitely not on the job. Well, at least not on the job that she was supposed to be doing at present. Luckily, she'd been working at the shelter long enough that she could do her work in her sleep. In fact, her brain kind of checked out until the dispatcher showed up at ten 'til to take over for her. She started when she realized she'd spent a good four hours daydreaming about Sam and Dean and her future dream life. Amazingly, her fantasies had already reshaped themselves to include the two boys.

But now Ty snapped out of it and hurried to the bathroom to change. She exchanged her polo-shirt and khakis for a tank top and jeans, pulling on her leather jacket and strapping on a belt low around her hips. It wasn't her usual style, but she figured maybe she could hook her throwing knives onto one side and her switchblade onto the other. Plus, maybe it would make her look cooler.

Hunting attire on, she grabbed her backpack which contained her concealed equipment and ran out to her car. Her stereo was blaring and her wheels spinning in seconds. She probably should have told the boys that she'd meet them at ten thirty instead of ten fifteen, but she was anxious and that made her drive even faster than normal so she was confident that she'd get there in no time. And she was, really, but when she pulled up, Dean was already waiting for her out by his car, leaning against the side. Upon closer inspection, she found that Sam was also waiting for her, sitting in the passenger seat of the Impala and looking at some leather-bound book. Ty wasted no time turning her car off and climbing out.

"Hey, boys." she greeted the brothers.

A slow grin graced Dean's features and, much to Ty's chagrin, made her heart feel like it had skipped a beat. She ignored her heart's palpitations and moved around her car towards theirs in order to see what the plan for the night would be.

"Hey." Dean answered, unabashedly looking Ty up and down, "Ready?"

Not one to admit any hesitancy or weakness, Ty immediately replied, "Always."

"Good. Hop in." Dean said, turning and sliding in the driver's seat of his car.

Ty followed suit, climbing into the backseat. She really didn't mind letting him drive and taking his car. Gas prices were way too high anyway. Besides, she hated driving when she didn't know where she was going.

There was a lot of junk to share the backseat with, giving Ty the impression that these boys lived out of their car. She envied their mobility and quick flashes of all the places they must have been and all the things they must have seen burned in her brain before Dean twisted around in his seat to look back at her and asked, "So, figured out what we're hunting yet?"

Ty couldn't stop herself from making a face, "You really won't tell me?"

"Keep guessing, sweetheart."

Ty bit her tongue to keep from calling him an ass and caught Sam sending her a look that clearly communicated, 'Yes, he's a moron. Just humor him.' Ty smiled a little at the expression.

"Okay, fine. Uh…is it fuzzy?"

Dean took his eyes off the road long enough to send Ty a strange look through the rearview mirror, "Fuzzy?"

"You know, black dog, werewolf. Fuzzy."

Dean continued to look like he'd accidentally stumbled into an insane asylum and made the mistake of talking to one of the patients.

"They are kind of fuzzy, Dean." Sam pointed out.

Ty nodded, glad of the confirmation and waited patiently for Dean to spit out an answer. Dean glared at Sam as if he'd betrayed him before finally answering, "Uh…no, I'd have to say not."

Ty reviewed her mental list.

"Oh, is it zombies?" she asked hopefully.

"You believe in zombies?" Sam asked in surprise.

"You don't?" Ty returned, equally surprised.

"Can't say I've ever met one." Dean supplied and Sam nodded his agreement.

"Well, fine." Ty replied, unable to hide her disappointment, "It's got to be some kind of poltergeist then, right?"

"We'll find out, won't we?" Dean grinned.

Ty growled in frustration, annoyed at his behavior. Sure, he was hot, but man could he be annoying! Just her luck that when she finally found a man in her line of work he happened to be the most aggravating smart ass she knew. Well, next to herself. At least Sam seemed to be a bit more mature.

"So, Sam, how long have you boys been doing this?" Ty asked to distract herself.

"Long time." Sam shrugged, "Kind of the family business."

"Cool."

Sam made a face, "Not really."

"What about you?" Dean interjected, "When did you decide you should rid the world of evil?"

"Gee, just woke up last week and thought hey, wouldn't it be cool to kill ghosts for a living?" Ty quipped dryly.

"Seriously. Most people don't even believe in this stuff." Sam pointed out.

Ty allowed Sam to talk her into sharing, "Alright. Maybe most people don't, but I always have. And the more I believe, the more I see what other people don't. But I don't believe in coincidences. Which is why I think that running into you guys isn't just dumb luck. It has to mean something."

"Okay, so you believe, Agent Mulder. What about training? What do you know about expelling spirits and killing werewolves?" Dean pressed.

"Hey, I know stuff." Ty responded petulantly, crossing her arms across her chest.

"She sounds like you." Sam muttered with a grin and a teasing look in his eye.

"Shut it." Dean snapped before turning his attention back to Ty, "What stuff? Wow me."

"What do you want me to say? You want the run down on salting and burning, silver bullets, holy water, and exorcisms? Excuse me, but boring." Ty protested. She might be a book worm and enjoy reading about all that stuff, but giving an impromptu lecture on it was not her idea of a good time.

Dean said something in reply, but Ty was too distracted by Sam searching through the stations on the radio. She frowned in annoyance at the static that predominated, broken by short intervals of music. She kept herself in check for as long as humanly possible (about a minute) before she couldn't take it anymore. She scooted forward and leaned over the seat, pushing Sam's hand out of the way and adjusting the dial herself. When she finally located her favorite classic rock station, she sat back in her seat.

"Here. Alice Cooper Nights. It's the only thing worth listening too after ten o'clock." she explained.

Ty didn't miss the look that Sam gave Dean or the glare that Dean sent back, almost daring his brother to say something. She didn't miss either, but she didn't totally understand what was going on other than Sam was pushing Dean's buttons. She chose to ignore them for the moment and looked out the window to see where they were going. She hadn't been paying too much attention, but the road looked really familiar.

"Wait a minute. We're on the Carefree Highway. Where the hell are we going?" she demanded.

Her best friend lived far west of her house and the Carefree Highway was her normal route for reaching her friend's own remote location in the desert. Too bad Cade's house wasn't half as cool as Alice Cooper's. Anyway, the point was that she traveled this road once or twice a month at the least and she hadn't noticed anything unusual.

"West." Dean said.

"No shit, Sherlock." Ty snapped, "What's the ultimate destination?"

"There kind of isn't one." Sam admitted.

Ty shook her head, "You're not making any sense."

Dean took a deep breath and let it out in a slow exhale before launching into an explanation, "Well, it looks like this might be a haunted highway…"

"I knew it!" Ty exclaimed, "When my car broke down on this thing a couple months ago, I said that this highway must be evil and…"

She stopped mid-rant when she noticed that both boys were looking at her like she was crazy again. She smiled sheepishly, "I mean, continue."

"Okay." Dean drawled, "Anyway, there's been some accidents over the years, always the same M.O."

"Mom, Dad and a teenage girl." Sam supplied, "Dad's driving."

"Right." Dean nodded, "These accidents are all happening at the same spot, mile marker 27, starting with a crash in '46 with the Hamilton's. Story is, the family wasn't a very happy one. Mrs. Hamilton was cheating on her husband and everybody knew it but him. My bet is that the family field trip went south because Mr. Hamilton found out what was going on."

"Lately, there's been more and more accidents at the same spot. And some of them don't match the normal pattern." Sam added.

"Hamilton's getting less picky." Dean remarked grimly.

"So, what? We're going to drive out there and…?" Ty trailed off, gesturing for the boys to insert their brilliant plan there.

"See if Hamilton tries to possess Dean." Sam revealed.

Dean groaned and grumbled, "Should've driven her car. Damn ghost better not hurt my baby."

Ty wasn't sure if she'd heard right. If she had, these guys were way crazier than she was. Where they really proposing driving out on a haunted highway in the hopes that the driver of the car would be possessed by a ghost that wanted to crash the car and kill them all? She struggled for witty words, but was momentarily drawing a blank.

"Well, everyone. Hope your night's as…interesting as mine. Maybe I can liven it up a little for you with some AC/DC." Alice Cooper interjected.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Well, here's another chapter. I thought I'd try to get this one out as soon as possible in order to make up for delay on the third chapter. Anyway, I rewrote this chapter a couple times in a couple different places and I'm not totally sure about it still. Let me know what you think. I started this story with a third person limited perspective, keeping the focus on Ty, but I found it necessary to make it more of a third person omniscient type of work for this chapter. Tell me if the switch is too annoying and I'll see what I can do to change it. Much love to all my reviewers (EmSyd, Halcyon Impulsion, hotforjensen101, IHeartJensen, and VisionGurl- you're comments on the last chapter inspired me to update quicker) and even those of you who are lurking. Lyrics are from "Control" by Poe.

Chapter Four: Now I Have Taken Control

_Don't you mess with a little girl's dream  
'Cause she's liable to grow up mean  
Surprised you to find that I'm laughing?  
You thought that you'd find me in tears  
You thought I'd be crawling the walls  
Like a tiny mosquito and trembling in fear  
Well you may be king for the moment  
But I am a queen understand  
And I've got your pawns and your bishops and castles  
All inside the palm of my hand  
While you were looking the other way  
While you had your eyes closed  
While you were licking your lips  
'Cause I was miserable  
While you were selling your soul  
While you were tearing a hole in me  
I was taking control  
Now I have taken control  
Now I have taken control...  
This is beginning to feel good  
Watching you squirm in your shoes  
A small bead of sweat on your brow  
And a growl in your belly you're scared to let through  
You thought you could keep me from loving  
You thought you could feed on my soul  
But while you were busy destroying my life  
What was half in me has become whole  
While you were looking the other way  
While you had your eyes closed  
While you were licking your lips  
'Cause I was miserable  
While you were selling your soul  
While you were tearing a hole in me  
I was taking control  
Now I have taken control  
Now I have taken control...  
_

Ty caught another mile marker fly past and couldn't help herself. She turned to her backpack and dug out her bag of M&Ms. She shouldn't be eating them. She'd just gain back the couple pounds she had just worked off. But she was nervous and they were there, demanding to be eaten. So, she started popping the damn tantalizing treats into her mouth while she stared out the window at the rapidly passing scenery and listened to the sounds of Bad Company fade in and out as they lost reception in the foothills.

"Hey, what're those?" Dean demanded suddenly, startling her a little.

"What?" she asked, not sure if he meant her M&Ms or something else.

"Are those M&Ms?" Dean clarified.

"Maybe." Ty said, reluctant to admit to the fact that she was munching in the backseat when she clearly didn't need to be.

"You should probably give him some before he gets cranky." Sam advised.

"Shut up, Sam. Geez, you're being awfully bitchy tonight." Dean complained.

"Dude, if anyone is, you are."

"Am not."

"I am not having this argument with you, Dean."

Ty couldn't resist, "Are, too."

Dean and Sam both paused to look back at her. The amused smile left her face as she realized that she wasn't exactly a part of the group just yet. _Of course not. Why would I be?_ she chastised herself, _They just met me. Well, Dean met me a little more than Sam, but still. _Although she could rationalize it in her head, it didn't make Ty very happy to realize that Sam and Dean hadn't welcomed her into their lives with open arms just yet. It wasn't like they were excluding her. They just seemed more surprised by her casual little interjections than she would have liked. Like she was butting in on a conversation they were used to having between just the two of them. It was kind of weird.

"Alright, have some M&Ms. Geesh!" she exclaimed to relieve her own tension, handing over the bag of candies.

A smile reappeared on Dean's face as he accepted the bag, "I knew I liked you."

Ty rolled her eyes, but decided that if she just kept talking she could forget about being nervous, "So with this ghost guy? What makes you think he'll target us? I mean, you guys kind of fight like a married couple and I'm just barely not a teenage girl anymore, but don't you think he'll notice?"

Sam smiled at the remark and responded before Dean could swallow and say something, "I was going to try summoning him, too."

Ty found herself noticing that Sam had the sweetest smile. He had this whole puppy dog look thing working for him that made him kind of adorable. She was normally more of a bad boy type of girl, but Ty could definitely imagine herself daydreaming a bit about Sam. But if she wasn't thinking about Dean like that at the moment, she most definitely couldn't think about Sam either. So she nodded and commented, "Well, that'll probably help with the drawing him out phase. And, as for the killing part? I haven't heard either of you mention anything about his bones."

"We looked." Dean drew my attention back to him, "Apparently the car kind of blew up after impact. Mr. and Mrs. were fried. The girl got out, but died before an ambulance could get out here. The family's all got grave markers over at the cemetery further west of here, but the kid's the only one with remains."

"Great." Ty drawled, "So what do you think he's still doing here? What else could he be attached to?"

"Don't know." Dean admitted, "When he shows up, you ask him."

"You're just full of great ideas, aren't ya?

"What? You got a better one?" Dean demanded.

"No, no. You're the expert, right? Let's go with your plan. I mean, it's not like we're recklessly endangering our lives. Only rookies like me do that." Ty deadpanned, keeping her eyes firmly fixed out the window.

The blue darkness outside was deepening as they left the more highly traversed region of highway. She couldn't recall passing headlights for a while now. They seemed to be the only car on the road. This sense of isolation caused the world to seem smaller somehow, like all that existed was the car and the blacktop and possibly a pissed off ghost. Her heart quickened a little with excitement and the thrill of adventure, but she still felt like something wasn't right. This wasn't exactly the happy little Scooby Doo-style romp she'd expected when she'd pulled up at the motel. It was just sinking in that this was pretty serious and would require more on her part than just being there. It would require her winning the Winchesters trust, proving herself, and most importantly, not getting hurt in the process. If she could do that, then maybe she could be a real hunter. Then she could be a real hero. Then she could live a life worth living, not just take up space and oxygen. So, while her body was starting to hum with adrenaline, her mind was sobering, causing a strange mixture of emotions within her that was making her feel like bantering one second and arguing the next.

The boys didn't say anything in answer to that, but Dean wordlessly handed Sam the bag of M&Ms which he passed along to Ty. Ty accepted them, taking the gesture as something like an apology which was only slightly spoiled by the fact that Dean had almost eaten all of the candies in the bag.

"Hey, we just passed mile 29." Sam pointed out.

"When we hit 28, start the summoning." Dean instructed.

Both boys were visibly settling into business mode. Ty felt left out so she leaned forward over the seat, "What do I do?"

"Uh…help Sam stop me from crashing the car." Dean said.

Ty wondered how she could do that from the back seat, but didn't bother to point out that out. Something told her that her whining wasn't going to help things much either. So she waited, watching for the 28th mile marker. When it appeared, Sam flipped open the leather-bound book that Ty had seen him reading when she met up with them earlier and began chanting something in what she recognized as Latin from her classes at the university. Ty tried to translate what he was saying, but she didn't know enough to understand it all. She gave up and instead took a look at Dean's face. His eyes remained focused on the road and at first he didn't seem to be nervous at all, but then Ty noticed the clench of his jaw and the carefully neutral expression.

"Dean?" she ventured.

"This fucker better not ruin my car." Dean grumbled.

Ty opened her mouth to say something. She wasn't totally sure if it would be reassuring or just a witty remark to take his mind of it, but either way it didn't matter. The words died in her throat as a weird feeling started to come over her. At first she wondered if maybe it was just a bout of indigestion resulting from eating candy at eleven o'clock at night. But when the tightening in her stomach spread upwards to her chest, she began to wonder what the heck was wrong with her. The tension spread outwards to her limbs and she began to feel a little panicky. This wasn't normal. She opened her mouth again to alert the brothers to her condition, but her throat constricted before she could get out anything coherent. All she managed was a strangled noise of distress. Her eyes darted from side to side, franticly and she caught sight of a sign passing along the side of the road: mile marker 27.

The Impala's headlights flickered and she heard Sam and Dean speaking, but she couldn't tell what they were saying. The world was coming undone. Someone was pouring molasses on her brain. She heard Dean say her name questioningly, probably in response to the noise she made, but the sounds registered very slowly. She couldn't respond. She felt like there were weights covering her whole body, making it impossible for her to move. She could no longer even feel any apprehension about the situation as she started to feel more and more removed from herself. She wasn't moving, but the disconcerting feeling of becoming more distant from everything permeated her experience.

"Ty?" Dean asked again, more insistently.

He tore his eyes from the road and looked back at her, but she was already moving, leaping forward across the seat and grabbing the wheel.

"Holy shit! Sam!" Dean yelled, struggling to keep Ty from yanking control of the car out of his hands.

Sam dropped the book and grabbed Ty's forearms, struggling to push her back into the backseat. He sought to eyes with his own, trying to see what had gotten into her, but she refused to look at him. However, the glazed look on her face and the snarl that issued from her lips told Sam all that he needed to know. The ghost hadn't possessed Dean; it had possessed Ty.

Sam finally succeeded in prying Ty's hands from the steering wheel and wrestling her back into her seat.

"Dean, pull over!" Sam yelled at his brother as he climbed over the seat so that he could keep Ty pinned against the upholstery and away from his brother.

"I hate you!" Ty screamed as she thrashed against Sam's hold, "Both of you! I wish you were dead!"

"Tough shit." Dean grunted as he brought the car to a stop on the shoulder, "Sure could have used a magical vision about this, Sammy."

"Who are you?" Sam demanded, ignoring his brother.

"What do you care? You've never given a shit about me!" Ty snapped.

Sam glanced up at Dean who was watching the proceedings critically from the front seat, "Is it just me or are you getting the feeling that maybe we were wrong about this ghost?"

"Yeah, doesn't seem much like a pissed-off husband to me either." Dean nodded, his eyes narrowed as he looked at Ty desperately trying to kick Sam off her.

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here! I hate when you do that!"

Sam and Dean exchanged a look before Sam turned his attention back to Ty, "Angela?"

Ty paused in her struggles, her blazing eyes catching Sam's for the first time since she had been possessed, "What?"

Sam glanced back up at Dean, his suspicion confirmed. It wasn't the ghost of Mr. Hamilton they were dealing with. It was the ghost of the teenage daughter, Angela Hamilton.

"You killed them, didn't you?" Dean took over the interrogation.

"Leave me alone!" Ty/Angela screamed.

She managed to twist one of her hands out of Sam's grip. She swung at Sam's face, her fist meeting with his cheekbone. Sam's head jerked to the side slightly, but he quickly recovered and snagged her wrist again.

"You killed your parents, Angela." Dean accused once he saw that Sam was okay, "You crashed the car and killed them."

"Shut up!"

"But that wasn't enough for you. You came back and killed all those other people, too." Dean continued, unfazed by her outburst.

Ty's pupils dilated to the point where her eyes had gone completely black, "They deserved it! All of them! None of them cared about me! All they ever cared about was themselves! They destroyed my life!"

Ty's screams grew louder and louder as she continued her rant and suddenly Sam was thrown off of her and into the side of the car. The window shattered, the shards slicing through Sam's clothing and leaving long cuts.

"Sam!" Dean yelled, instinctively lunging towards his brother.

He realized almost instantly, however, that inside of the car, there wasn't enough room for him to be of much help. So, he reversed his motion and got out of the car, sprinting around to open the door that Sam had impacted with while letting loose a stream of curses. Sam almost fell out when Dean swung the door open, but quickly climbed back to his feet. Wincing, he stepped aside to let his brother reach in and grab Ty by her jacket and drag her out of the car. He shoved her roughly to the ground and took over for Sam, pinning her down.

"Sam, are you okay?" he asked once he had Ty under control, at least for the moment.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Sam confirmed, "What do you want to do?"

"This bitch still has bones, right?" Dean grunted as he adjusted his grip on Ty's wrists so that he could hold them both in one hand.

"Yeah, but Dean, that cemetery is like another forty minutes down the road." Sam pointed out.

"So drive fast, damn it!" Dean barked, extracting his keys from his pocket and throwing them at Sam.

"You gonna be okay here?" Sam hesitated.

"Yeah, go!"

Sam nodded and ran around the car to the driver's side.

Dean yelled after him, "Don't bleed on my seats!"

Sam didn't reply, but instead peeled out as he sped back onto the road and down the highway. Dean swore under his breath again, knowing that once again he would be forced to clean blood off his precious leather seats. Plus, he had a window to fix. And if this bitch of a ghost had dented his car…well, hell would be nothing compared to what he'd do to her.

"Get off me!" Ty yelled at him.

"Oh, don't even start with me." Dean warned her.

"You're just like them." the ghost spoke through Ty, her eyes darkening again, "Selfish bastard…"

Dean barely got a chance to react before he was thrown from Ty just as Sam had been, "Bitch!"

Dean luckily missed a patch of cactus and landed with a thud in the dirt. His breath rushed out of him and a flash of pain ran through his thigh where a rock stabbed into his leg, undoubtedly causing bruising. He coughed as dust filled his lungs and slowly moved his limbs. This ghost was really pissing him off.

Dean pushed himself up into a sitting position to find Ty standing over him, her eyes still gleaming darkly in the night, "You should have let me end it all in the car."

"You're really pissing me off." Dean growled, wishing Sam would hurry up.

"It would've been faster in the car." Ty continued, ignoring him.

"What the hell do you think you're going to do, little girl?" Dean couldn't resist taunting.

Ty reached down and drew the switchblade from its holder on her belt. She flipped it open, eyes trailing from the knife to Dean. Dean continued to smile smugly at her, raising one eyebrow as if to ask what she planned to do with that. With a scream, Ty launched herself at Dean, plunging the knife down towards his form. The knife sank deep, but in dirt not skin. Ty growled in frustration, but before she could pull the knife free and try again, Dean's shoes impacted with her chest and knocked her backwards. She lost her grip on the switchblade, but her hand immediately moved to the throwing daggers on her other hip. Dean's eyes followed her movement and he quickly lunged towards her, grasping for her arms. He managed to knock her hand away from the daggers before she could free one from its sheath, but couldn't keep a hold on her as she twisted away from him. She leapt to her feet, but Dean wrapped his arms around her shins and yanked her back to the ground.

"Should've grabbed some rope. Why didn't I grab rope?" Dean muttered as he pulled Ty towards him and pressed his weight down on top of her, pushing her face into the dirt.

He sat on her legs and grabbed her arms, leaning forward so that his weight prevented her from moving. Now if he could just keep her like this until Sam toasted her bones.

"Ty, if you can hear me in there, sorry about this. You're gonna hurt in the morning. And not in the good way like before." he said.

Ty squirmed and yelled something, but the dirt muffled it into obscurity. Dean ignored her, knowing that it would probably just be more threats. Instead, he settled in for a good, long wait and began to hum to himself. As long as Ty didn't do any more of that flinging thing that ghosts seemed so fond of, Dean was confident that he could keep her still until Sam got rid of what was left of Angela Hamilton.

However, Dean didn't see that although he had prevented Ty from drawing the throwing daggers, they had left their sheath nonetheless and all three were currently hovering in the air over his shoulder. Angela waited until she felt Dean relax a little in his hold, becoming complacent when she stopped struggling. Then, the daggers flew towards his back, whistling through the wind as they made their rapid descent. Dean's ears registered the noise and he instinctively fell to the side. Two of the daggers passed him and stopped in mid-air before they could hit Ty, but the third pierced his arm and stuck near his shoulder. A cry escaped Dean's lips at the pain, but he was able to ignore it in the face of his anger. Ty was squirming out from under him, trying to turn over, plus the other two daggers were still levitating, waiting to be redirected. So, Dean did the only thing he could think of. He reached behind his back and pulled out his gun, his right hand slipping around the grip with the ease of familiarity. His eyes focused on Ty's temple and his fingers tightened on the gun. Without pausing to think twice about it, he lunged forward and slammed the gun into Ty's head hard enough to ensure unconsciousness as well as a nasty bump that would hurt for days. Mentally, he apologized as she slumped back to the ground and the daggers dropped to either side of her. He might not exactly be a gentleman the next day with the women he slept with, but he most certainly didn't end up knocking them unconscious normally. He returned his gun to its spot at the small of his back and then used his right arm to push Ty over onto her back so that she wouldn't inhale any more dirt. Then he turned his attention to the knife sticking out of his person, gripping the handle and preparing himself for the pain before he hastily pulled it out. Fresh, hot blood immediately issued from the wound. Frowning, Dean shrugged off his jacket and pulled off his T-shirt, careful not too upset his arm more than necessary. His frown deepened as he looked at the almost brand new shirt before he sighed and ripped it apart.

"I should be ripping your shirt." Dean grumbled at Ty's prostrate form while he tied a strip of fabric around the wound to staunch the blood flow, "You just had to have knives on you, didn't you?"

Looking down at the girl and knowing she had something inside of her that was controlling her brought thoughts of Dean's father, lying on the floor of a cabin demanding that Sam shoot him to the forefront of his mind, but he quickly shut them out. That experience was still a little too fresh and painful to be dealt with. So, instead he took up the remainder of his shirt and began to clean some of the dirt off Ty's face. He didn't have any water so he wasn't doing a whole lot of good, but the gesture made him feel a little better about having to hurt her. Dean Winchester was a lot of things, but he wasn't the type of guy who felt it was okay to hit a girl. But in life and death situations involving the supernatural, what was he to do?

Dean checked himself, mentally and physically. This was getting a little too chick flick. He balled up the material in his hand and chucked it as far as he could.

"Well, maybe now you'll give up this stupid idea about hunting." he said. He couldn't stop himself from adding with an ironic half-smile, "Now that I've knocked some sense into you."

As soon as the words left his mouth he frowned at how bad that sounded and was grateful that she wasn't able to hear him. He glanced at his watch, wondering how much longer Sam would be. There was no telling how long it would take the ghost to revive Ty's body and Dean was not looking forward to any more fights in the middle of nowhere on this particular night. Besides, Dean wasn't the type of person to wait patiently and now that he had the possessed girl out of commission for at least a short while, he was able to check up on his brother. Reaching into his pocket, Dean retrieved his cell phone and hit the speed dial for Sam.

"Dean, I'm almost there." Sam said immediately upon answering.

"Good. Dude, I had to knock her out." Dean admitted.

"Are you guys okay?" Sam asked, knowing that his brother wouldn't have resorted to hitting a girl if something drastic hadn't happened.

"Yeah, just hurry up. Call me when she's burning." Dean instructed.

He hung up following Sam's affirmative answer. Setting his phone down next to him, Dean looked around and took stock of his situation.

"Great. Just me and the unconscious possessed girl. Fantastic." Dean voiced out loud, thinking wistfully of his bed at the motel and the TV with cable, "No offense, but unconscious isn't really my thing. I like my girls awake and in control of their own bodies."

Dean looked at his watch again. Sam said the cemetery was forty minutes away, but Dean figured his brother could make the drive in twenty. Then, he'd have to locate the grave and dig up the casket. If Sam hurried, Dean was sure he could accomplish that in under fifteen minutes. So, what was he supposed to do while he waited? With a self-pitying groan, Dean picked up his phone again and decided to investigate the game demos.

Several minutes later, Dean was startled out of a game of Bejeweled by his ring tone. Sheepishly, he answered, his eyes moving to Ty to see what happened when the ghost inside of her was extinguished.

"You got good news for me, little brother?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." Sam answered, sounding a little out of breath, "I'm dropping a match on her now."

Ty jerked almost as soon as the words left Sam's mouth. Her eyes flew open, blacker than the night sky around them. She screamed and something radiated out from her body, knocking Dean flat.

"Dean? Dean! What's going on?" Sam demanded when he heard Ty's scream and Dean didn't immediately reply.

Dean blinked slowly in surprise. He hadn't been expecting that. With another groan, this time of mild pain, he pushed himself back into a sitting position and picked up the phone.

"Sam." he coughed more than said after the sudden impact with his chest.

"Dean!" Sam cried, "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Dean said.

A soft moan came from Ty and Dean moved over to her with the phone still against his ear. Her eyes were closed again, but she was stirring slightly.

"Dean, how's Ty?" Sam asked.

"Hang on, Sammy." Dean said, adjusting his hold on the phone so that he could prop it against his ear with his shoulder. With his hands, he gently tapped Ty on the cheeks, "Ty, wake up. Come on. Wake up."

Ty opened her eyes slowly and Dean was relieved to see that they were back to their normal blue. With another moan, Ty tried to sit up, wincing at the pain in her head and chest. Dean backed away to give her some air, watching her closely for any sign that she might still be possessed.

"What the hell happened?" Ty demanded as she gingerly touched her aching skull.

"I think she's okay, Sam." Dean finally informed his brother, "Get back here."

"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can."

Dean put down his phone and met Ty's searching gaze, "So, there was a little problem."

"A little problem? I just woke up in the middle of the desert with a headache worse than the one I had this morning. What happened?" Ty demanded, not very happy with the fact that she couldn't remember anything after she had seen the 27th mile marker.

"Well, turns out it wasn't the ghost of Mr. Hamilton causing all the problems. It was his daughter. And she decided to possess you." Dean explained, watching as Ty's eyes widened and she grew very still, "She was quite a bitch, too, but she's gone now."

Ty gaped. She had been possessed? This whole time someone other than her had been using her body to, no doubt, try to kill them all and she had no recollection of any of it. All she could recall when she really concentrated on it was the distinct feeling of acute sadness and an even more intense rage. But that wasn't important right now. She could think about that later. More importantly, she had just realized that Sam was nowhere in sight.

"Is everyone okay? Sam…" she began quickly, feeling panic rise in the pit of her stomach at the thought that she might have involuntarily hurt Sam.

"He's fine." Dean interrupted, "He toasted the ghost while I kept an eye on you. I'm fine, too, by the way. Thanks for asking."

Ty felt her cheeks redden slightly at his comment. She hadn't meant to imply anything by asking about Sam first. It was just, he wasn't here and Dean was and he seemed okay…wait a minute! Why was Dean shirtless with a bloodstained rag tied around his arm? Ty grabbed his arm and pulled it closer for a better look. Dean grunted in pain when she pulled on his arm, quickly moving closer to ease the tension on his wound.

"Hey!" he protested, "Easy."

"What did I…?" Ty began to ask.

"You didn't do anything. That bitch Angela did that." Dean interrupted her yet again. He wasn't about to let her go into the whole guilty conscience thing. He got enough of that already with Sam around.

Ty's eyes caught his, searching the hazel spheres for any indication that he was just humoring her, any hint that he might actually blame her for any part of this. He met her gaze boldly, arching an eyebrow at her as if daring her to find something. When she couldn't, she dropped her gaze to her lap, a relieved smile darting across her face for just a moment. For some reason that part in Galaxy Quest where Alan Rickman makes fun of Tim Allen for losing his shirt came to mind.

"Figures you'd find some way to get your shirt off." she voiced her thought.

"Hey, first off, this was a brand new shirt and second, you know you love it." Dean answered with undisguised confidence.

Seeing as he'd just gotten fairly badly injured, Ty figured she might as well make him feel a little better. She knew she'd regret it later, but what the hell, "Maybe just a little."

Dean grinned.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry for the delay guys. I've been having computer problems, writer's block problems, and personal problems. Hurray! But, I finally got this chapter done and hopefully you'll like it. Plus, I have a few ideas for the next chapter already so, with any luck, I'll have that for you a lot sooner than I did this one. Here's hoping. Enjoy.

P.S. The song is _Kashmir_ by Led Zeppelin.

Chapter Five: Talk and Song

_Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream  
I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been  
To sit with elders of the gentle race, this world has seldom seen  
They talk of days for which they sit and wait and all will be revealed _

Talk and song from tongues of lilting grace, whose sounds caress my ear  
But not a word I heard could I relate, the story was quite clear  
Oh, oh.

Oh, I been flying... mama, there ain't no denyin'  
I've been flying, ain't no denyin', no denyin' 

All I see turns to brown, as the sun burns the ground  
And my eyes fill with sand, as I scan this wasted land  
Trying to find, trying to find where I've been.

Oh, pilot of the storm who leaves no trace, like thoughts inside a dream  
Heed the path that led me to that place, yellow desert stream  
My Shangri-La beneath the summer moon, I will return again  
Sure as the dust that floats high in June, when movin' through Kashmir.

Oh, father of the four winds, fill my sails, across the sea of years   
With no provision but an open face, along the straits of fear   
Ohh.

"So, why do I hurt?" Ty asked when it became apparent that she and Dean were going to have to wait for Sam to return with the car. She was surprised to find that Dean actually seemed embarrassed. She smiled at the discomfort she was causing him and pushed him a little, "Dean?"

"Look, I had to keep you from doing anything…homicidal." Dean said quickly.

Ty raised her hand to her head again, "You knocked me unconscious, didn't you?"

"I…" Dean began.

Ty smiled. She was enjoying seeing him squirm, but she wasn't completely heartless, "Dean, it's okay. I understand."

"You do?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." Ty shrugged, "Job hazard. I'll be okay. Head trauma and I are best friends. Besides, at least we're not all dead."

Dean looked extremely relieved to hear that. A more characteristic cocky look returned to his face, "So, we're all alone in the middle of nowhere. What do you want to do to pass the time?"

Ty blushed a little at the thought, but managed to say, "You wish."

As much fun as flirting with Dean might be, she wasn't feeling especially attractive at the moment, what with the coating of dirt all over her and the lovely bump on her head, so she figured it would be best not to draw more attention to herself. Instead, she decided to distract Dean with questions.

"So, is this how you two normally hunt 'cause I have to say, this was a little too bumbling for my style?"

"Hey, did you just critique our saving of your life?" Dean asked incredulously.

"Uh…yeah." Ty nodded.

"Women." Dean shook his head to himself.

"Stop avoiding the question." Ty told him, "Tell me about your hunts."

While Dean would normally have no problem with regaling a girl with his exploits, real or fictional, he had the feeling that trying to impress this girl with stories of hunting would only serve to encourage her. Besides, some of his hunts that were easiest to recall, like the one for the demon, were ones that he didn't particularly feel like talking about. So, he made up an excuse, "Too many. Take too long. Besides, I'm not much of a storyteller. Ask Sammy when he gets back."

Ty was getting a little frustrated with the whole not knowing anything about these guys thing. Frustrated enough to tell the truth outright, "Come on, Dean. I slept with you and I don't even know your last name. That's not like me and I'd kind of like to fix that by learning more about you than just the fact that you're the almighty hunter of all things evil and you have a cool car."

She took a deep breath after all that had left her mouth and as she did so, her words replayed through her brain and made her blush. She hadn't intended to bring up her initial meeting with Dean. She'd kind of been hoping that if neither of them talked about it, it would become a non-issue. But, unfortunately, that plan was no longer an option thanks to her big mouth deciding to sound off without checking in with her brain first. She was almost afraid to look at Dean, to see his reaction, and yet at the same time she couldn't keep from looking at him for the same reason. She felt her throat constrict at the look of apprehension on his face.

"Uh…Ty…" he began slowly, clearly not sure what to say.

Ty had a feeling what he wanted to communicate, though. He hadn't been looking for a relationship and was probably freaking over the thought that she might be. It wasn't like that, though. Truthfully, while she wouldn't mind being in a relationship again, it wasn't the most pressing issue on her mind. She would much rather be just friends with Dean and get a chance to do something exciting and amazing than pick up a boyfriend.

"Dean." Ty said, drawing his attention to her. She offered him a small smile, "Chill out. I don't want to go steady or anything. I just want to know who the heck you are."

Relief washed over Dean's face, making Ty almost laugh out loud. He glanced up at her and a smile returned to his face.

"What do you want to know?" he asked, spreading his hands.

The gesture drew Ty's attention to his bare chest once again and it took almost every ounce of her willpower to pull her eyes back up to his face again. When the heck did she become awesome enough to sleep with a guy like him? She might be a little embarrassed about the rashness of it still, but the next time she saw her best friend she was definitely liable to brag a little.

"I don't know. How about a last name?" Ty said the first thing she could think of.

Dean hesitated for just a moment, which made Ty wonder if he was going to answer her. At first she wondered what the big deal was about telling her his last name, but then she thought about the type of job ghost hunting was. It was probably necessary to stay as far below the radar as possible. Dean probably had more aliases than Jennifer Garner.

"It's Winchester." Dean finally said, "What about you? I don't exactly know your life story either."

Ty paused herself when she realized that he didn't even know her real first name. She was one to talk about aliases. She thought about giving him her favorite fake last name that she used online, but decided that she couldn't expect him to trust her if she didn't make it a two-way street.

"Falkner." she said, "And…uh…Ty isn't exactly, technically, my real first name, but I like it a lot better, so let's just stick with it."

"Wait a minute." Dean protested, "What's your real first name?"

"It doesn't matter." Ty shook her head quickly.

"Ah, come on. I'll tell you Sam's middle name. He really hates it." Dean offered.

Ty smiled. Dean was such a typical older brother.

"It's Anna." Ty finally admitted, "But call me that and I will draw an evil eye under your bed."

"And Sammy's middle name is Francis. Samuel Francis Winchester." Dean said happily.

"You're a terrible big brother." Ty observed.

"Nah, I'm the best." Dean corrected with a smile.

"Yeah, well, we'll see what Sam has to say about that." Ty replied, feeling her store of wittiness running dry.

Usually snarky conversation was her favorite pastime, but for some reason Dean made her feel a little ill at ease. Maybe it was because his shirtless-ness was so damned distracting and kept bringing mental pictures of their night together back to the fore of her mind. Or maybe it was because she had recently been knocked unconscious and her brain was a little tired. Either way, she felt an awkward silence coming on. And she was not mistaken. She fidgeted uncomfortably and finally forced herself to say, "So, you really didn't think it was the daughter, huh?"

"What? Oh, no. Just assumed it was the dad. But, come to think of it, after that job with the painting, we probably should have looked into the girl." Dean mused.

"What?" Ty exclaimed, "You mean this has happened to you before and you still didn't see it coming?"

"Hey, you think this job is easy, sweetheart?" Dean demanded, getting defensive.

"No, but you'd think that you might not have fallen for the same thing twice!"

Ty was possibly overreacting, but after the lecturing from Dean about how this was too dangerous because she didn't know what she was doing, she couldn't resist. Besides, if she had gotten knocked out cold for no good reason, she would be a little upset.

"Listen, blondie…" Dean began and Ty felt all her thoughts screech to a halt.

"What did you call me?" she interrupted, her voice dangerously quiet.

Dean's eyes widened a little at her tone, apparently surprised at the effect the name had on her, "Uh…"

Ty scrambled to her feet, her hands clenched into tight fists at her side. Dean slowly, cautiously, also climbed to his feet, standing opposite her and waiting for her to explode. Ty took a few deep breaths to try and prevent that from happening and eventually managed to continue speaking, "Dean Winchester, just admit that you fucked up and you owe me one!"

"But…" Dean protested with a stubbornness beyond reason.

"Just do it." Ty interrupted him, giving him a level stare.

"Oh, fine. Whatever." Dean gave up with a shrug and an exaggerated roll of his eyes.

A smile almost instantly appeared on Ty's face at his admission of fault, however reluctant, and her rage at being called by her most hated nickname dissipated. Dean could never have known, but the bane of her childhood existence had taunted her with that name and left her with a deep-seated resentment for it. It wasn't his fault really, but seriously, who calls people "blondie" anyway?

Ty glanced down at her watch, hitting the button to illuminate the time. Her conversational instincts told her to change the subject so she decided to ease back into talking by asking, "How the hell slow does Sam drive?"

Dean looked confused at her sudden turnaround and the topic change, but slightly relieved also, "He's just being cautious. He knows one scratch on my baby means his life is forfeit."

"Guys and their cars." Ty rolled her own eyes and heaved a loud sigh, but continued to smile slightly, letting on that she was teasing.

"Hey, have you seen my car?" Dean replied.

Ty spread her hands to indicate that she had nothing to say to that and Dean smiled in apparent triumph. Ty glanced around and decided that she had gotten her fill of the scenery in this particular spot. She gestured to Dean to accompany her and walk down the side of the highway in the direction Sam would be coming from. Maybe that would diminish the wait time and, even if it didn't, it gave her something to do.

Ty let silence settle between them, but this time it wasn't bad. It seemed fairly companionable to her. And after a minute or two, her ears detected the sound of Dean's deep voice half mumbling and half humming something. The tune was familiar, but it took her a second to figure out what it was.

"Hey, that's Zeppelin!" she exclaimed when she'd remembered the tune, "_Kashmir_, right?"

"You listen to Zeppelin?" Dean asked.

Ty gave him a look that in no uncertain terms asked if he was serious, "They're only the best band ever."

Dean stopped suddenly, his face the picture of seriousness. Ty stopped, too, wondering what could be going through his head.

Slowly, levelly, Dean said, "I totally want to kiss you right now."

Ty laughed at that, but also felt that warm feeling of being wanted wash over her. She resumed walking before that feeling could lead to anything else potentially embarrassing. Dean quickly hurried to catch up to her.

"Hey, what do you think about Pink Floyd?" he asked, his voice taking on an excited note that for some reason made Ty imagine what he was like when he was younger. The image made her smile.

"Awesome. I like Zeppelin better, though. What about Blue Oyster Cult? You like BOC?" she asked in turn.

"Oh, yeah. We had this one hunt…well, it reminded me of BOC and _Don't Fear the Reaper_. I kept playing it until Sam was ready to kill me." Dean admitted with a smirk at the memory.

"_Don't Fear the Reaper_'s my ring tone!"

"Serious?"

"Totally."

"Huh, this is almost weird." Dean said, reaching up and scratching the back of his head with one hand.

"I told you. Can't be just a coincidence, right?"

"Maybe not." he allowed.

The fact that he was admitting that there was a possibility that this was all meant to happen was enough to make Ty feel like dancing for joy in the middle of the desert. But she restrained herself because she didn't want to look like a complete idiot or a complete weirdo just yet in front of Dean. She certainly didn't want to scare him off now.

"Okay, I got a test for you." Dean said, drawing her out of her inner celebration.

"Yeah?"

"What's your favorite Zeppelin song?"

Ty took her time to answer. This was serious after all. She had to prove herself to Dean and if she could pass the Zeppelin test, the demon fighting test would be a piece of cake, "Well, that depends. When I'm driving, _Immigrant Song_ is the best to rock out to. When I'm just hanging out, I like _Kashmir_ or _Dazed and Confused_. Plus, you know, _Nobody's Fault But Mine_ is like my personal theme song. Damn, I like 'em all, but I guess if I had to pick…uh…_Stairway to Heaven_."

"Why's that?" Dean asked, clearly curious.

Ty hesitated to explain since her reason was not only personal, but kind of girly and sentimental. With a sigh and her eyes riveted on the dirt before her feet she said, "I had a crush on this guy. First guy I'd ever really liked. We worked together at this seasonal thing I did when I was younger. Nothing ever really happened with him, but one time…he played me that song on the guitar."

Dean sure had a knack for embarrassing the hell out of her. Jesus, she must have used up her quota of blushing for the year already. Ty mentally recomposed herself and glanced out of the corner of her eye at Dean. He was looking off into the distance, away from her, so she couldn't really get a good look at his face.

"That's a good answer." he finally said.

"Does that mean I pass the test?" Ty ventured.

Dean turned his face back towards her and flashed her a grin, "Yeah, you pass. And you did a whole lot better than Sam, too."

"Sam doesn't like Zeppelin?" Ty asked, slightly surprised. How could you not like Zeppelin?

"He just doesn't understand." Dean said, shaking his head sadly.

Ty couldn't help but think that was typical. Little brothers generally don't like everything their big brothers like. Hell, her own little brother tended to enjoy the exact opposite as her on occasion. The only times he ever seemed to agree with her on anything was usually years later when he'd finally found out why she liked it. And even then, he rarely admitted that his liking whatever it was had anything to do with her.

After a few more minutes of walking and carefully avoiding the increasingly dense population of cacti (Ty was beginning to think it was a miracle that neither she nor Dean had ended up with an ass-full of cholla after their bout on the side of the road), she decided to voice a question that was dancing around in her skull, "What's yours?"

"Huh?"

"Your favorite song." Ty elaborated.

"Oh." Dean said. His hand raised again, this time to rub the back of his neck. Ty waited patiently while he thought of his answer, "Well, I think all the ones you mentioned are great. _Babe I'm Gonna Leave You_ may be my favorite, though. At least, for the moment."

"Good song." Ty nodded.

She thought about elaborating, but a pair of headlights in the distance drew her attention instead. The road was so quiet tonight that it had to be Sam returning. And, as the car swiftly drew nearer, she squinted into the light and felt even more confident that she was right. There couldn't be too many other guys driving a car like that with a hairdo like that out at this time of night.

"It's about damn time." Dean grumbled as Sam pulled up.

Ty could have pointed out how incredibly fast Sam had made the drive back, but she decided that it would be pointless. Instead she just waited for the boys to "exchange pleasantries" so that they could all pile back in the car and drive the thirty miles or so back into town.

"Bitch, get out of my spot." Dean greeted his brother while opening the driver door.

Sam climbed out, his eyes quickly taking in Dean's lack of a shirt and the impromptu bandage on his arm, "You didn't get shot again, did you?"

Dean pushed past Sam and inspected the seat for any signs of blood stains, "Hell, no. Just stabbed a little."

"Stabbed a little? How can you be stabbed a little?" Sam wondered.

Dean ignored him, still scrutinizing the seat by the glow of the overhead light. Sam turned his attention to Ty.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine." Ty nodded quickly, "You?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." Sam nodded, "None of the scratches were too deep since I was wearing my jacket. So stop looking at the damn seat, Dean."

Dean grunted in annoyance, but stopped his inspection and instead moved over to the back window that was still terribly shattered. He opened the door and more glass hit the ground. Dean reached in, grabbed a shirt and wrapped it around his fist. Using the covered hand, he knocked out the remaining glass and wiped the slivers off the seat. He paused to look over his work, double checking that the seat had not sustained any scratching before returning to the front seat and sliding in behind the wheel. Ty caught Sam's eye, nodded towards Dean and rolled her eyes. Sam nodded and smiled.

"Hey, you two coming? 'Cause if you want to walk back, that's fine by me." Dean snapped.

"Shut up, we're coming." Sam replied, copying Ty's eye roll and heading around to the passenger side.

Ty climbed into the backseat. Despite the clutter, she managed to stretch out a little with her backpack behind her to prop her up. Whatever the ghost had made her do, it had drained her. Now that was able to actually sit down and relax, exhaustion was quick to flood her system. As Dean pulled back onto the highway and the radio buzzed to life, Ty felt herself grow sleepy. Car rides had always had that effect on her, ever since she was a baby, so it wasn't long before she found herself relaxing further into the seat and her eyes drooping shut. Her mind recalled her conversation with Dean along the highway as she began to drift. She wondered if the difference in their choice of favorite songs said something about them. Before she could dwell on it, she vaguely heard Sam say something about how she looked like she was asleep moments before she actually was.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Alright everybody. Here's the next chapter for you. This one is a little graphic, just to warn you. Nothing you haven't already seen on the show, though. I would also really adore feedback on this chapter. This section was really important to me and I'm hoping that it comes across in the dark, dramatic way that I want it to. Please let me know if I've succeeded or if there's something I could do to add to it. Also, those of you who have been reviewing, you all rock and I love you guys. You inspire me to keep doing this.

P.S. The song is "Fall Into Sleep" by Mudvayne.

Chapter Six: Dreams of Our Disease

_Dreams of earthquakes  
Dreams of hurricanes  
Dreams of pouring rain  
Dreams of tidal waves...to wash us all away  
Dreams of guns blazed  
Dreams of fire rage  
Dreams of swollen graves  
Dreams of hollow pain  
All gone  
No more fallen  
No more enemy  
No more casuality  
No more dream  
Fall into sleep  
Fall into me  
I have a dream  
But nobody cares  
Nobody wants to listen  
Fall into sleep  
Fall into me  
Hang on to a dream that nobody wants  
Nobody cares anymore  
Dreams of mourning grief  
Dreams of disbelief  
Dreams of tragedy  
Dreams of our disease...to take us all away  
Dreams of fidelity  
Dreams of inner peace  
Dreams of loyalty  
Dreams of unity  
All gone  
All gone  
Fall into sleep  
Fall into me  
I have a dream  
But nobody cares  
Nobody wants to listen  
Fall into sleep  
Fall into me  
Hang on to a dream that nobody wants  
Nobody cares anymore_

Ty woke up with a start when she heard the door by her feet open and she felt someone leaning over her. Her eyes snapped open and she took in the sight of Dean leaning in the door and smiling at her.

"Morning." he said, seemingly amused by the fact that she had fallen asleep.

"Hey." she replied, relaxing again after the shock of waking up, "Where are we?"

"Back at the motel." Dean replied, backing off and straightening.

Ty scooted forward until she was sitting on the edge of the seat with her legs hanging out the door. She looked at her car and her mind balked at the idea of driving home. She was still too sleepy to get behind the wheel. Maybe she could just take a nap in her backseat for awhile.

"So," Dean asked, causing her to turn her face up to him, "what do you think about this ghost hunting business now?"

His face was neutral, but Ty saw something in his eyes that she couldn't explain. Something that told her despite all his lecturing earlier, he would be okay with her saying that she still wanted to do this. Their casual conversation along the highway returned to her and she felt that Dean was the type of person she could really like. They got along well and even under normal circumstances, maybe they would have become good friends. But nothing about this was really normal. Still…she _did_ like him. He was cool and funny and incredibly good looking. So, despite her bruises and the danger she had narrowly avoided earlier that was still only just starting to sink in, she couldn't give up her desire for more and whatever it was she saw in Dean's gaze told her that was okay. Heck, he had to think so, didn't he? After all, he did this job, too.

"Sign me up." Ty finally replied, offering a grin.

Dean offered her a hand and pulled her to her feet. Ty felt her grin strengthen when he looked down at her and a small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth, "You're a nutcase, you know that?"

"I hear guys dig crazy chicks." Ty replied.

Dean laughed at that and his laughter made Ty feel better about life in general. It was always nice to inspire laughter in other people, but Dean's made her feel especially good for some reason. She turned and grabbed her backpack out of the backseat, slinging it over one shoulder and turning to face Dean again.

"Leaving?" he asked.

"Thinking about sleeping in my own backseat for awhile, actually." Ty admitted.

"Sam and I have a room right here, you know. Why don't you crash with us?"

Ty glanced sidelong at Dean. He knew damn well that she knew he had a motel room here. They'd definitely made use of it. She wondered what exactly he was getting at.

Dean caught her looking and laughed again, holding up his hands innocently, "Hey, don't look at me like that. I'll push Sam out of bed for you and you can sleep there."

"How generous of you." Ty deadpanned, wondering for a moment how Sam put up with his brother.

Dean rolled his eyes, "Okay, you can have mine."

Ty shook her head quickly, "Nah. You guys paid for the room, you should use it."

"Come on, I'm not letting you sleep out here in your car." Dean insisted. He leaned in and whispered, "I hear there are weird ghosts and shit in this town."

Ty formed her features into the picture of shock, "Really?"

"Yeah. Spooky, huh?" Dean grinned again.

Ty shifted, readjusting her backpack as she quickly thought over her options. Her backseat wasn't exactly the most comfortable place in the world or the cleanest. And yet she stubbornly refused to confiscate either of the Winchesters' beds. Maybe she could just borrow a blanket and some pillows and camp out on the floor. She had no problem with sleeping on the floor. Sometimes, it even helped with her lower back pain.

"Alright, I'll come in." Ty finally conceded, "But you boys are both sleeping in your own beds. Just loan me a blanket and a pillow and I'm a happy camper."

"If that's what you want."

Dean led the way into the apartment and Ty heard the sound of the shower running. Obviously, that must be Sam. Dean tossed a pillow to Ty, which she caught. She scoped out the floor for a good spot and decided to lie on the floor by the foots of both beds. She dropped her pillow and her backpack and accepted the comforter Dean had stripped off of his bed. Sitting down on the floor, she half-expected the drowsiness from earlier to return to her instantly. But that was not the case. As she sat there, she felt too awake to return to sleep just yet.

"Dean?" she asked as she removed her shoes.

"Yeah?"

Ty turned so she was facing Dean, setting her shoes neatly next to her backpack. He was sitting on the bed, carefully unbinding his arm. She waited to continue, focusing instead on his arm and wondering how bad the injury was. The blood had clotted already, but the wound looked gross and Ty figured that Dean hadn't paused to attempt to clean it at all. She winced as she thought about how bad cleaning that out would hurt.

"Is that going to need stitches?" she asked.

Dean glanced at her before returning his attention to his arm, "This? Nah, it's fine."

"Dean?" Ty ventured again.

"Uh huh."

"Are you guys leaving in the morning?"

Ty tried not to let on how upset she would be if the answer was affirmative. She didn't want to think about that just yet. She hadn't completely figured out her brilliant scheme for making them take her along. She just needed a little more time to work out the details.

"Are you kidding? My poor car needs a patch-up before we go anywhere." Dean said and Ty had to hastily check herself before she heaved a sigh of relief.

"Oh. Okay." she said instead.

The shower turned off in the bathroom and Dean stood up and moved over to grab a duffle bag off the floor. He pulled out a white First Aid kit and returned to the bed with it. Sitting down, he took out some peroxide and a gauze and went to work on the wound. Once the chemical hit the open wound under the crust of blood and dirt, it fizzed in an interesting and yet entirely disconcerting manner. Ty looked away. She wasn't squeamish, but there was no particular reason for her to watch that either. To keep herself from looking again, she undid her belt and realized suddenly that she was missing all her knives.

"Damn it." she swore.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Forgot my knives." she explained, glancing quickly at him.

She was relieved to see that he had taped the wound closed with medical tape and was wrapping it with gauze. She tried not to think about how it was one of her knives that had certainly done that to him.

"No, I got 'em." Dean said without looking up from his arm, "Just didn't want to give them back to you until I was sure you weren't possessed. They're in my car."

She wasn't sure why, but when Dean spoke of her possession in such a casual manner, it made the reality of the situation hit her like a speeding train. Ty froze as she thought about the idea of someone else being in control of her body, someone who had died long ago and was still seeking revenge for a perceived wrong. It was ludicrous to think about. She had been possessed! Her life could never be the same after this. This was a point of no return, surely. One didn't just waltz back into work at their day job after being possessed, did one? She sure as hell didn't think so!

Ty was about to tell Dean something in regards to her personal epiphany about her life-altering experience when Sam walked out of the bathroom, a towel held around his hips by one hand. Suddenly, ghost hunting was the furthest thing from her mind.

'_Huh, Sam's a lot more muscular than I would have guessed_,' she mused, tilting her head to the side for a better view, '_Wow_.'

Sam and Dean both noticed her staring at the same moment. Sam turned a little red and Dean expelled the air in his lungs in an indignant huff. Ty just blinked slowly and continued to stare. His skin was still slick from the shower, making the light from the bedside lamp catch on him in an interesting way.

Dean snatched some clothes and threw them at his little brother, "Put some clothes on, will you? We have company."

Sam turned a deeper shade of red and retreated quickly into the bathroom. Ty wondered momentarily how things would be different if she had by some chance ended up with Sam the night before instead of Dean. It was an interesting thought, but ultimately she had no regrets. Still, she hadn't missed the annoyance her obvious appreciation of Sam's physique had caused Dean and it was impossible not to exploit the opportunity it provided.

Looking over at Dean with her eyes still wide she asked, "Does Sam know that he'd pick up a lot more chicks if he stopped wearing shirts?"

"Don't tell me you're hopping on the Sammy bandwagon. I know he's got the sappy, dork thing working for him, but come on." Dean complained.

Ty had to use all her skill as a bald-faced liar to keep a straight face as she replied, "Well, you boys are the two hottest guys I've ever met. I've already slept with you and you only live once, you know."

"Ah, gross!" Dean exclaimed, his eyes wide.

Ty couldn't hold it in any longer. She burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that her bruised chest started to really hurt and it became difficult to get a sufficient amount of oxygen to her lungs. She noticed that Dean was looking at her with a mystified look on his face and that Sam, who had returned from the bathroom clothed in pajamas, was also completely confused. The looks on their faces only made it harder to stop laughing and it took a lot of effort to take in deep breaths until she calmed down. Her best friend would be so proud of her if she could hear her now, spouting her friend's philosophy about life. She made a mental note to call her in the morning and tell her about it.

"Uh…Ty?" Sam asked.

Ty just shook her head, "Nevermind, Sammy. Nevermind."

Sam's head whipped around so he could glare at his brother, "Great, now you've got her doing it, too."

"What?" Dean asked innocently.

Sam chose not to elaborate and instead crawled into bed. Dean grabbed more clothes and went to the bathroom to change. Ty watched him as he moved past her, then decided to follow Sam's example. She shrugged off her jacket, leaned back and tried to get comfortable. Her mind was still buzzing, but her body was all too willing to rest again. With her head on the pillow, her body seemed to drift even as her mind struggled to shut down. She just couldn't stop thinking. The experience of the night kept dancing around in her brain. She was still trying to convince her brain how great sleep was when Dean returned and sought his own bed. She was still commanding herself to sleep when one of the boy's light snores filled the room.

'_This sucks_.' she whined to herself grumpily.

With a sigh, Ty forced the rest of her to get up and went in search of a glass of water. Heading towards the bathroom because she really didn't care if it was tap water or not no matter how bad tap water in this place tasted, she switched on the light and found a plastic cup next to the sink. Turning on the faucet, she filled the cup halfway and downed it in one quick swallow. Grimacing at the taste, Ty stuck her tongue out as if that would help. Shaking it off, she looked at the mirror and scowled at her reflection.

'_Boy, aren't I attractive today?_' she thought sarcastically.

She was still fairly dusty and bruises were peaking out around her tank top. Two large ones stood out on her chest, reaching up to her collarbone. She couldn't remember how she'd gotten them, but the shape of the bruises and the outlines in dirt on her shirt of tread told her that they were probably the result of someone kicking her with both shoes. The other bruises on her arms and the ones she could feel on her back she chose to blame on the rocky terrain along the Carefree Highway.

Grabbing a washcloth from the shower, Ty ran it under the water and cleaned off her face and arms. She thought momentarily about taking a shower, but figured what was the point if she had to get back into her dirty clothes? So, she settled for just washing off her bare skin and leaving the rest for later.

A shadow or something in the corner of her eye made Ty spin towards the open doorway. She inhaled sharply at the sight of someone standing there with a knife before she realized it was Dean. Even after that realization, she was still on edge because he had surprised her and was carrying a weapon. She kept her eyes trained on the blade until he followed her gaze and quickly set it down on the counter. When her eyes traveled back up to his face, he was looking at her somewhat sheepishly.

"Sorry. Force of habit. What are you doing up?" Dean asked quickly, obviously trying to distract her from asking why he would investigate a light on in the bathroom with a large knife in his hand.

"Couldn't sleep." Ty shrugged.

She turned back to the mirror and resumed her activities, gingerly brushing the washcloth across her bruised skin. She could see Dean standing behind her in the mirror if she turned her head slightly, so she did. His eyes met her through the mirror, but even the indirect contact made her a little uncomfortable for some reason so she looked down at the sink. As much as she tried to not think about it because she wanted to be professional, the intimate contact with Dean that she had had was impossible to forget and it was making this close contact with him awkward.

"I don't get you." Dean admitted.

"What's not to get?" Ty asked evasively.

She knew what he was talking about, but she wasn't in the mood for being open, honest, or frank. She was in the mood to not think and hopefully go back to sleep at some point. But, par usual, what she wanted didn't appear to be what she was going to get.

"You know what." Dean insisted, not allowing her to duck out on the question. He paused for a second causing Ty to glance up through her eye lashes at the mirror. His head was cocked at an angle as he looked at her reflection, "Do you even know why you're doing this or want to, at least?"

"Can we interrogate later when I'm fully conscious?" Ty asked with a sigh, dropping the washcloth and turning to face him.

"Hey, you're the one who woke me up, sweetheart." Dean replied.

"Dean, I just…" Ty shook her head and let her sentence die. She might not be able to sleep, but she didn't have the energy for this, "What are the chances of you taking me with regardless of what I say?"

Dean looked surprised like the idea of taking her with him had never occurred to him. And maybe it hadn't. It was her screwball idea, not his. And she distinctly remembered him telling Sam the day before that this was going to be a one-hunt deal for her. He was already shaking his head, brutally murdering Ty's hopes even if she'd seen it coming. Her optimism from earlier seemed to have dissipated along with her energy.

"That's not…" Dean began.

"Forget it." Ty cut him off, anger stirring inside her despite the fact that she knew she shouldn't really be angry at him in particular, "I know what you're going to say. Too dangerous, blah blah blah. You and the rest of the world would rather I just die of boredom in this stupid city than actually do anything important."

She turned away from him again. She was being a brat. She knew she was. But she couldn't help it. Her whole life seemed to be a repeat of this same conversation. Okay, so the details might be different, but the overall theme was the same. She was sick of it! When would people stop telling her no and discouraging her and start encouraging her instead? Weren't people supposed to encourage you to make a difference in the world? What was the point of it all if there was never any adventure? Who wants to live without some risk? Could life have meaning without the possibility that it might end? Man, she must be really tired; she was getting philosophical.

"You know I didn't say that." Dean said slowly, carefully. Then, because this was all getting a little too emotional, he added, "Besides, can you really die of boredom?"

In spite of herself a weak laugh escaped her. She found herself thinking, '_Count on Dean to keep this from being too serious_,' but then wondered when she had gotten so familiar with him.

A hand on her arm made her stiffen almost instinctively. Still, she didn't fight when Dean turned her around towards him again. His hands lingered on her skin and she looked up at him. The contact made tension spark through her and she found herself wondering if maybe, just maybe she should kiss him. If this was it, she should at least make the most of it, right?

"You could hunt around here. Take care of things for Sammy and me." Dean suggested.

"By myself?" Ty asked mockingly, with wide eyes.

Dean smiled, allowing her to rib him about that, "I trust you. As long as you don't have knives on you and a ghost in you. Besides, you could always call us if you need us."

Ty felt a smile tugging at her own lips and couldn't help but let it show just a little, "So, you think I'm a hunter, huh?"

"Don't get cocky." Dean immediately warned, then paused as if he just realized that he wasn't one to really talk when it came to being cocky. Stubbornly, he continued, "Just be careful, okay? I mean, I still don't like it, but I guess you're as bad as Sam when you get something in your head."

"Damn straight." Ty nodded.

"Hey," Dean began, his eyes searching her face while a grin began to form on his features, "there's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold."

"And she's buying a stairway to heaven." Ty immediately finished the line although she wasn't sure why he'd brought it up.

"Oh, man." Dean groaned, then quickly closed the space between them and kissed her deeply. Pulling away slowly, he explained, "That is so hot that you know Zeppelin."

Ty couldn't help herself; she was grinning from ear to ear, "Glad you think so."

Dean's eyes glinted mischievously and he leaned in close to Ty's ear. Between his hot breath on her neck and his husky voice in her ear, Ty was amazed that she was only feeling shivers running up a down her spine and not melting into a puddle on the floor, "Want to try a repeat of last night?"

"Dean Winchester, your little brother is sleeping like twenty feet away." Ty chastised him, trying to appear stern despite the fact that her knees were feeling surprisingly weak all of a sudden.

"I have a car with a backseat." Dean offered, his arms tightening around her and pulling her even closer.

Ty was distinctly aware of her body pressed against his, but somehow managed to think of words to reply. Suppressing a smirk, she looked up at him to voice her witty retort, but found that the words were dying on her tongue at the look in his eyes, the look he was giving her. Swallowing around the lump in her throat, she finally said, "So do I…but that doesn't mean you're getting any."

"You don't mean that." Dean declared.

His confidence inspired Ty to being even more catty, "Stick around another day and we'll see."

Dean's eyes widened a little in surprise at her, "You know, that normally wouldn't work on me."

"Normally?" Ty questioned brightly. She decided to play the one card that seemed to really work with him, "But I've been dazed and confused for so long it's not true."

"Wanted a woman, never bargained for you." Dean answered. With a smile he added, "Damn, that's true."

"Night, Dean." Ty said softly, moving to kiss him lightly before pulling away and returning to her spot on the floor.

Dean's hand immediately moved to her hair, making the kiss much deeper and longer than she'd intended. She couldn't complain, though. Dean had to be the best kisser she'd ever met. It seemed that he was determined to make her holding out on him as difficult as possible.

'_Little does he know how stubborn I am_.' she thought even as she felt a low moan escaping her and disappearing in the kiss.

"Night." Dean echoed her as he pulled away.

Ty didn't immediately pull away. She needed a moment to compose herself. Dean seemed rather pleased with himself. Ty prayed for strength and slowly backed away from him. She felt him watching her as she turned and silently trooped back to her impromptu bed. She also had the disconcerting feeling that this was as good as her love-life was ever going to get. She couldn't complain, though. She could have done a whole lot worse.

Ty laid down and pulled the comforter up over her shoulder. She was afraid that she would once again be too awake for her system to shut down, but surprisingly, as soon as she closed her eyes, she felt herself falling rapidly into a dream.

_Ty wasn't lying on a floor. She was lying on a soft mattress. She also wasn't alone. Dean was planting searing kisses on her skin. His hands traced her figure. Her body seemed to rise ten degrees in temperature in every spot where there was contact between them. Her breath was short and her heart pounded with painful intensity in her chest. The only sounds in her ears were two panting breaths, two thundering heartbeats. Dean called her name and she opened her eyes to find him staring at her. His eyes seemed dark with desire as he looked at her. He didn't say anything else, just held her gaze as he slowly leaned in to kiss her on the mouth. Ty gasped his name in response when he pulled away, pleading for him to eliminate the remaining separation between them. That satisfied smirk that made her want to smack him and jump him at the same time appeared on Dean's face. She would have cursed him if he hadn't quickly complied to her demands, shattering her thoughts. She was having the best night she could ever imagine when suddenly she wasn't in Dean's arms anymore. There was no transitional phase. She was just suddenly elsewhere. And that elsewhere was pinned to the ceiling over Dean on the bed. He was looking up at her in horror, yelling something. She couldn't really hear him, though. Someone else's voice was filling her ears. Someone or something that was not human, that was whispering sinister words about how he was going to destroy the Winchesters, how she would help him to do it. She tried to say no, she would never turn against them, but she couldn't speak. She could hardly breath and whatever was whispering to her seemed to know the second the thought entered her brain anyway. She was rewarded for her protest by an unspeakable pain spreading across her abdomen. She felt the sticky warmth of blood spreading across her skin. She felt it, but she couldn't look. She couldn't move. She looked at Dean. He was still yelling franticly, looking more panicked than she had ever imagined him looking. He was standing on the bed, reaching for her, but he couldn't. And she was starting to feel an increasing heat building around her. It was getting hotter and hotter by the second and then suddenly she saw flames leap up past her face. She instinctively screamed, but no sound came out. It didn't matter though. Without being able to make a sound and without being able to move, she screamed and thrashed as the flames enveloped her body, searing her skin from her bones until she felt herself sinking, melting into the fire. And the flames were growing, spreading. The only thing that she could think of through the pain was that Dean needed to get out of the room quick or the flames would take him, too. She tried to yell at him to leave, but he couldn't hear her. She could barely see him past the flames and besides that her vision was blacking out from the pain. She struggled to hang on for as long as possible, to see if Dean made it out, but she couldn't. The pain was too great. And the voice was whispering in her ear: **"You can't save him."**_


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Okay, here's the next chapter finally. Sorry. This was a little difficult to write because I have a lot of explanation in it about what's going on and what's happened leading up to this point. Hopefully, it's still entertaining and you all will still like it. Also, the lyrics are from Blue Oyster Cult's song by the same name as the chapter title.

Chapter Seven: Flaming Telepaths

_Well I've opened up my veins too many times  
And the poison's in my heart and in my mind  
Poison's in my bloodstream, poison's in my pride  
I'm after rebellion, I'll settle for lies  
Is it any wonder that my mind's on fire  
Imprisoned by the thoughts of what you do  
Is it any wonder that the joke's an iron  
And the jokes on you  
Experiments that failed too many times  
Transformations that were too hard to find  
Poison's in my bloodstream, poison's in my pride  
I'm after rebellion, I'll settle for lies  
Yes I know the secrets of the iron and mind  
They're trinity acts a mineral fire  
Yes I know the secrets of the circuitry mind  
It's a flaming wonder telepath_

Ty woke with a strangled gasp that seemed to echo through the room. No, it didn't echo. Someone else had woken at that same moment in the same way. Sitting up quickly, Ty ignored the feeling of sweat trickling down the back of her neck and looked to see who else was awake. It was Sam, looking just as freaked as she felt. He was taking deep breaths, like she should be, trying to calm down.

"Sam?" Ty asked, wondering what the chances of them both waking up like that at the same time must be.

Sam snapped towards her, startled by her voice. Ty took a deep breath before asking the question that demanded to be answered, "Sam, did you just…have a weird dream?"

Sam stiffened and he looked at her more closely, intently, "Yeah. You?"

Ty nodded quickly, "Was I…?"

It was too hard to say it. She couldn't verbalize what had happened to her in the dream. It was too horrible. And it somehow became more horrible when Sam nodded in response to her question. The look he gave her answered any other questions she might have. He'd seen her die in his dream, just like she had in hers. How was that possible? Sure, she'd read about shared dreams between people before, but this dream was too weird to be something as simple as that. There was something about it that made it seem too real to have been something that had originated in her own subconscious. And there was something in Sam's face that told her that it couldn't be just a dream. Something in the way he was looking at her was making her really fear that her life was in danger.

She opened her mouth to ask him…something. What exactly she wasn't sure. She just wanted him to reassure her that it was just a freaky coincidence, not some sort of…premonition. Because it wasn't that. Okay, so maybe she'd had some weird experiences before where she'd dreamed of something and then it had happened, but it was never anything like this. She'd seen unimportant things like a question on a test or what was going to be for dinner the next day. This was most definitely a first for her and she had a feeling that maybe it wasn't a first for Sam. Something about the look on his face made her think that this wasn't the first time he'd dreamed a dream like that.

But before she could ask him anything, a loud groan from Dean attracted both their attention, "Go back to sleep."

"Dean." Sam said, his tone communicating that something important was going on.

With another groan, Dean rolled over and opened his eyes, waiting for Sam to fill him in on whatever was so important it couldn't wait until a respectable time of day.

"Dean, I…we…just had a vision." Sam said slowly, glancing at Ty.

That woke Dean up in a hurry. Pushing the sheets aside, he sat up and turned the lamp on the nightstand on, "Spill."

"I died." slipped out of her mouth before she even realized it.

Dean's gaze snapped from Sam to Ty, but she was in no condition to elaborate at the moment. Memories of the dream and the sensations that went with it were burning through her brain, demanding all her attention. She almost didn't even register Sam's voice as he began to explain for her.

"It was the demon, Dean. She was with you and then it came and took her. Just like Mom and Jess." Sam said quietly as if he, too, were reliving the nightmare.

"But…" Dean began to protest, but couldn't seem to find more words to do so. So, rather than challenging the truth of his brother's vision, he focused on the less important, but easier issue to address, "And you both saw this?"

Ty and Sam both nodded silently.

"You never mentioned any freaky abilities." Dean said accusingly, his eyes narrowed at Ty.

His suspicion snapped Ty out of it, freeing her from the aftershock of the dream. She quickly shook her head again, "I don't have any. At least, I don't really think so. Sometimes, not very often, I'll be sleeping and I'll see like a little snippet of something and later on it'll come true, but never anything like this." She blinked as her over-worked brain added two and two, "Sam, you get visions?"

Sam looked down at his lap, keeping a close watch on his hands fiddling with the sheets, "Sometimes."

"Like that?" Ty pressed.

Sam just nodded, still not looking up. Ty felt her throat constricting at the idea that what she had just experienced could really happen to her in the near future. She had to press Sam for more information.

"And they always come true?" she demanded.

"Always." Sam nodded, his voice strained.

Ty couldn't breath.

"I'm going to die." she gasped.

Sure, she'd figured that she would die someday. Everybody did eventually. She just hadn't figured it would be so soon or so excruciatingly painful. Risking death was one thing. Knowing that it was about to happen for a fact was something completely different.

Ty was gasping in air, but none of it seemed to reach her lungs. She felt like she was going to pass out. She noticed that Sam and Dean had both moved next to her, one sitting on either side of her, but that did nothing to ease her panic. She felt like she was isolated no matter how close they were. She could hear their voices and yet it was the voice that had sounded in her ear as she died that registered in her mind. The voice that told her flat out that there was nothing she could do to save any of them, much less herself.

"Sam, you broke her." Dean accused.

"Dude, you're not helping. She's gonna pass out if we don't get her to calm down." Sam snapped.

"So, what do we do?"

"I don't know!"

"And I thought you were the smart one."

"Dean!"

"Okay, Jesus. Don't you start hyperventilating, too." Dean grumbled.

Seeing as Sam had no bright ideas, Dean tried to think of one himself. Admittedly, making women short of breath was more his forte than restoring it to them, but he'd figure it out, "Uh…Ty? I got another test for you."

Ty's eyes flicked towards him for an instant, then away again, but at least he knew that she had heard him. Taking that as encouragement, he continued, "I need you to listen to me and tell me who I'm talking about. There's a band that has like two good songs and is named after the state where I was born. Name that band."

Ty's eyes returned to Dean again and this time lingered on him. He smiled when he noticed her breathing slowing a little. Her eyes were still twice their normal size and her chest was still heaving distractingly, but her gasps for air were coming at a slower pace.

"Boston?" she ventured uncertainly, her mind obviously only half on the question.

"Not a state." Dean pointed out.

"Uh…Kansas?" Ty tried again.

"Bingo!" Dean nodded. Now that he had her attention, he decided to throw in another question, "This one's a little harder. Favorite superhero?"

"Spiderman." Ty said without hesitation, "After him, Gambit."

Dean considered her answer, and then nodded his approval. He was also pleased to see that Ty seemed to have returned to a state of relative normalcy, her breathing slowed to almost normal as she watched him. Over her shoulder, he caught Sam sending him an incredulous look, "What?"

"You calm her down by quizzing her about bands and superheroes?"

"Worked, didn't it?"

"Uh…guys?" Ty interrupted their bickering. Both boys looked at her and she redirected their mental powers to solving the problem at hand, "Can we please try thinking of a way to stop…"

She trailed off rather than say anything that might make the fear overwhelm her again. She had never had a panic attack like that before. Sure, she'd freaked out at work once when she'd accidentally stabbed herself with a needle when trying to vaccinate a fidgety dog and her needle phobia had gotten the best of her, but even that time was nothing in comparison to this. Even thinking about how scared she'd been just seconds before and still was deep down made her ashamed. How could she loose control like that? And right in front of the guys, no less. So much for her tough girl image.

Dean nodded solemnly, "We'll stop it this time."

Ty took in his words and finally realized the implication of the references she had heard the two brothers make and hadn't really understood. They had faced this demon before. And Sam had mentioned something about it doing to his mom and someone named Jess what it had done to her in the dream. This was getting really complicated in a hurry and for the first time it really hit Ty that maybe she had gotten in a little over her head.

"What is this thing, Dean? What's going on? You two had better tell me!" Ty threatened.

She wasn't sure she'd be able to keep it together if they decided to keep her out of the loop on this. She had to know after what she'd seen. Plus, the looks the brothers were exchanging were making her start to feel panicky again. Anything that could make these two boys look scared was something really freaking bad.

Dean took a deep breath, like he was stalling for time, before saying anything. Finally, he looked over at his brother, "Sam, why don't you call Missouri and see what she thinks about your contagious visions. No offense, bro, but I don't want any part of that shit and I'd like to know if there's a chance of that happening."

Sam nodded, stood up and retrieved his phone, before heading outside to make the call. Ty watched him go, then let her gaze return to Dean.

"So, I guess we need to talk." he said with a grimace reminiscent of a five-year-old whose just been told he needs to eat his vegetables, "See there's this demon, came after Sammy when he was a baby and killed our mom. I don't remember much about it except the fire, but Dad was able to grab Sam and give him to me to get out of there. He couldn't get to Mom, though. So, he's been hunting the son of a bitch ever since. It's why we do this."

Ty was stunned and horrified, but some sort of morbid curiosity prompted her to ask, "And Jess?"

Dean sighed wearily, "Jess was Sam's girlfriend. Sam left for college for awhile and I guess got pretty serious with this girl. I only met her once when I came to ask Sam for his help to find our dad. Dad had taken off to find the demon and I was worried about him. He just left and in our line of work… well, anyway, Sam came with me for the weekend to look for him. When he came back, the demon had her…against the ceiling. I just barely pulled him out before that place went up in smoke, too. We spent all of last year after that trying to find Dad and the demon, to end this. Came close, too, at one point. We tracked him down, but we weren't ready. Let's just say it ended rather badly."

"So where's your dad now? And the demon?"

"One's chasing the other, although your guess is as good as mine as to who's chasing who. Apparently we pissed the fucker off enough that he's after us now as much as we're after him. Dad thought it would be best if we split up again; two moving targets instead of one."

Ty absorbed all that, not failing to notice the note of tragedy that had taken over Dean's voice. She couldn't imagine all that he must have been through. Now there was a reason for living an insane life like this. She suddenly felt extremely stupid and selfish, but there was no turning back now. Besides, what had thinking about how she could have done things differently ever gotten her? No, now was not the time for that. Now was the time for actions, for solutions.

"So, do you know how to kill it?" she asked.

Dean paused, "Well, we thought we did. Found a weapon that should have done the trick, but…well, it didn't work out and we've only got one more chance to use it. Dad has it, anyway. Sam and I have been trying to find some other options while we take care of some other hunts that Dad can't get to."

Ty nodded slowly, almost talking to herself "He has to have weaknesses. Everything does."

Dean's head snapped up, "Hey, don't you dare start thinking that you're going to try and mess with this thing. There is no way in hell I'm letting you…"

"Winchester, the day you get to _let_ me do anything…" Ty snapped, her eyes blazing at him. She cut herself off and tried a different approach because despite the fact that he had hit a nerve, fighting right now wouldn't help anything, "Besides, we already know that no matter what I do, that thing is going to mess with me."

Dean shook his head stubbornly, "We don't know shit. Sam said that in the vision you were with me when it happened. If you're not with me, maybe it can't happen."

Ty stared at him like maybe he'd grown two heads, "You can't be naïve enough to think that something as simple as that is going to make a difference."

"Hey, the demon probably doesn't know about you yet. It's after us, not you. Stay away from us and you'll be fine." Dean reasoned.

"Probably? You want me to bank on probably?" Ty couldn't help but yell at him.

Even if he might have a point, this was her life they were talking about! If there was a chance that the demon might come after her regardless of whether or not the boys were around, she would definitely prefer having them around. There was no way she wanted to face that thing alone. She couldn't care less if that made her a coward. She was _not_ going to die in flames and that was final!

Dean opened his mouth, most likely, to insert his foot when Sam walked back in. The lanky younger brother froze the second he entered, feeling the tension and knowing from the looks on Ty and Dean's faces that he had interrupted an argument.

"Uh…Missouri has an interesting theory." he informed them, hoping they wouldn't both snap and turn on him.

Dean climbed to his feet and retreated to the other side of the room, crossing his arms and leaning back against the wall. He raised an eyebrow at Sam, indicating that he should explain and promptly began to pretend that nothing had happened. Ty felt herself become slightly furious at him for dropping everything and slamming his emotional door on her so abruptly. She couldn't just let it go that easy or even pretend to. She was angry about this, damn it, and she had every right to be! How dare she become a target just like that and how dare Dean pretend like he could fix it by pretending none of this had ever happened! She hadn't done anything wrong. All she had done was try to make her life worthwhile, try to do something meaningful. Since when was that a crime punishable by death at the hands of a malicious demon?

Sam looked at her uncertainly and noticed her fuming. Dean was giving a look that indicated he should just spit out whatever he had to say, but honestly, he was more afraid of stepping on Ty's toes at the moment than his brother's. Volatile Dean he could handle. Volatile girl he had just met, uncharted territory.

"Ty?" he asked.

"Yeah, go ahead, Sam." she said curtly, continuing to glare resentfully at his older brother.

Sam wondered fleetingly if Dean knew how lucky he was that looks from the girls' he'd pissed off over the years couldn't kill him before he relayed the information from Missouri, "So, Missouri thinks that what happened with the visions might be because Ty had some latent ability. Apparently it's possible for someone with as much power as she claims I have to be like a sort of amplifier."

Sam shrugged like he wasn't too sure about that himself, but it made some sort of sense to Ty. She disengaged her death stare and looked up at Sam, "So, this person thinks that I just kind of accidentally tapped into your vision because I was close to you? Like crossed signals or something?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah, something like that. It's like if you have two devices working off of transmitters, but the signal from one is so strong that the other one accidentally picks it up."

"Fascinating." Dean drawled sarcastically. He pushed himself away from the wall and headed for the door without meeting either his brother or Ty's eyes, "Now that I know I won't be getting the shining, I think I'd better go fix my window."

Ty and Sam both watched him go, kind of speechless. The door slammed shut after him and moments later the Impala roared to life.

"Asshole." Ty grumbled as she turned to gather her things.

Sam looked slightly amused at her comment, which made Ty relax a little. She wasn't mad at Sam, after all.

"So, Sam, this person you talked you, they think I'm a psychic?" Ty asked as she pulled her shoes back on.

Sam stepped forward and held out his arm, offering her something to help her balance while she forced her sneakers back onto her feet. She smiled her thanks at him and held his arm.

"I was actually going to ask her that when she said something about how a lot of people have some sort of latent ability, like an intuition for things that will happen. Most people never acknowledge it as anything extrasensory, but she says like one in four or five people has it." Sam shrugged.

Ty let go of his arm and tried not to feel disappointed that she wasn't special like Sam in that department. It wasn't like she'd ever really wanted to be a psychic or anything. It just would have been cool to be able to say she had cool powers or something. But apparently whatever "powers" she possessed were not that extraordinary. It was just her proximity to Sam that was making her uber-premonition-y.

'_Well, there's a new word for the dictionary_,' she mused.

Ty mentally shrugged it off. She wasn't that upset about it. She was more concerned with the content of the vision than the source. Which led her back to Dean's stupid-ass plan.

"Sam, your brother has this dumbass idea that he can keep the vision from happening just by leaving my ass. Would you tell him that's retarded 'cause he doesn't seem to be listening to me?"

Ty watched Sam's reaction carefully. She'd tried not to let it show in her words or her demeanor, but she was really hoping that Sam would agree with her and not with Dean. They were his visions, he had to know that they couldn't be avoided that easily.

"Like he listens to me." Sam replied, rolling his eyes. He sobered a little and looked down at her, "Is that what you guys were fighting about?"

Ty nodded, "Dean equals moron."

'_Sexy moron_,' her brain added. To which she responded, '_Shut up, brain_.'

Ty forced herself not to get sidetracked, "What do you think, Sam? About the vision, I mean."

Sam sighed and moved back to sit on the edge of his bed. Ty watched him, noticing the sadness that seemed to wash over him. It was obvious that any and all subjects related to this demon were painful, but there was just no avoiding the topic, "Well, I understand where Dean is coming from, but I think you're right. I don't think it's going to be that easy to stop that from happening. Nothing's ever easy for us, especially when it comes to the demon."

Ty ears pricked up at the idea of Dean acting like an ass for a legitimate reason and she desperately wanted to ask Sam to elaborate, but she had to force that desire to take a backseat to the more pressing matter at hand, "So what do you think we should do?"

"Uh…well…" Sam hedged, making Ty suspect that he really had no idea, which was a terrifying prospect considering that these boys were the foremost experts on how to save her. Finally, Sam made a disgusted face like he couldn't believe what he was saying, "I guess we should probably call our dad."

Ty wasn't sure why Sam seemed so upset about calling his dad, but figured that now wasn't the time to ask about Sam's life story. Instead, she blurted out the thing that was most bothering her at the moment before her brain had even gotten a proper chance at thinking of a way to phrase it so that she wouldn't sound like some kind of crazy, desperate groupie or something, "Sam, you guys won't leave me, right? I mean, you'd at least say something first, wouldn't you?"

Ty bit her lip as soon as the words escaped her mouth as if she was trying to shut the lid on them before they could escape, but was a fraction of a second too late. She hated how needy that sounded, but she really was kind of worried that Dean would grab Sam and hightail it out of here without so much as a word to her. She didn't want that to happen. He had to at least give her a chance to talk him into seeing things her way.

Apparently Sam could see how upset she was because he looked her right in the eye with the most sincere face she had ever seen and said, "I won't let him."

Ty felt relief wash over her, but it was quickly followed by a need to lighten the atmosphere in this room. She wasn't a girl for overly dramatic, sappy, soap opera moments and when one came along she usually did her best to wise-crack her way out of it, "Thanks, Sam. But I think you should know that you need to punch Dean really hard at least once or twice."

"Why's that?" Sam asked, a smile starting to form on his face.

Ty shrugged casually, unable to keep her smirk to herself, "Well, it's really up to you, Samuel Francis, but I just assumed you might feel he needed a minor beating."

At the sound of his full first name and his middle name to boot, Sam's smile disappeared. He froze for only a second before he sprang for the door, still clad in his pajamas, "Dean!"

Still smirking, Ty slipped on her jacket and retrieved the rest of her possessions before slowly following him out the door.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Sorry, guys! I'm writing as much as I can around a new butt-load of class work. I'm taking two dead languages, ancient Japanese history, Intro to Museums, and Archaeological Ceramics. Yeah, it sounded interesting to me, too, at first. Little did I know… Anyway, I really hope you like this chapter. There's not much action going on right now, I know, but there will be more soon, I promise. I'm also debating writing John into the story at some point, although I haven't decided yet if I want to do that or not. As always, any suggestions you may have about what I can do to make this better or what might be cool for the future of this fic are always welcome. The song for this chapter is "Pulse of the Maggots" by Slipknot. Oh, and my reviewers rock!

Chapter Eight: Take a Stand

_I fight for the unconventional  
My right, and its unconditional  
I can only, be as real as I can  
The disadvantage is  
I never knew the plan  
This isn't the way just to be a martyr  
I cant, walk alone any longer  
I fight, for the ones who can't fight  
And if I lose, at least I tried  
We, we are the new diabolic  
We, we are the bitter bucolic  
If I have to give my life you can have it  
We, we are the pulse of the maggots  
I won't, be the inconsequential  
I won't, be the wasted potential  
I can make it, as severe as I can  
Until you realize  
You'll never take a stand  
It isn't, just a one-sided version  
We've dealt, with a manic subversion  
And I won't, let the truth be perverted  
And I won't leave another victim deserted  
We, we are the new diabolic  
We, we are the bitter bucolic  
If I have to give my life you can have it  
We, we are the pulse of the maggots  
Do you understand? (yes) x 4  
Say it again say it again (we won't die) x 8  
We fight til no one can fight us  
We live, and no one can stop us  
We pull when we're pushed too far  
And the advantages is  
The bottom line is  
We never, had to fight in the first place  
We only, had to spit back at their face  
We won't, walk alone any longer  
What doesn't kill us, only makes us stronger  
We, we are the new diabolic  
We, we are the bitter bucolic  
If I have to give my life you can have it  
We, we are the pulse of the maggots  
Do you understand (yes x 4)  
Say it again say it again (we won't die) x 4_

When Ty walked outside, she found Sam glaring at the empty space in the parking lot where the Impala had so recently been parked.

"Didn't catch him, huh?" she pointed out the obvious.

"He's so dead." was Sam's clipped reply.

Ty nodded, "Right. Stay angry. Pummel him later."

Ty headed over to her car and noticed out of the corner of her eye that Sam was following her, "Are you leaving?"

Ty nodded again, "Yeah, I enjoy clean clothes and showering every once in awhile."

Fishing her keys out of her pocket, she unlocked her door and dumped her things inside. She frowned when she realized that Dean still had her knives, but figured that would just be one more reason for them to see her again before they tried to leave. Unzipping the front pocket of her backpack, Ty fished out a pencil and a scrap piece of paper. Quickly jotting down her address, she handed it to Sam, "Here. You guys should stop by. Dean still has my knives, anyway."

Sam looked down at the paper in his hand, then back up at Ty with a slightly confused look on his face, like he wasn't sure about something. Ty fidgeted under the weight of the look he was giving her and began to think of an out to escape the situation without just taking off.

"Ty, are you okay?" Sam asked before she had the chance to think of anything.

"Peachy." she immediately replied.

Sam shook his head like he wasn't buying that for a second, "It's okay to be scared. This demon…"

"Sam, stop it." Ty interrupted, "Just don't, okay?"

He was giving her this wide-eyed look that reminded her that he was only trying to help, but she wasn't about to let up on this one. She was not talking about her feelings related to the vision. The only thing she would talk about in regards to that were ways to prevent it from happening. She would not allow herself to look like a pathetic little girl again. At least, not in front of either of the boys.

"Just…uh…call your dad and come by later." she said awkwardly, ducking into her car and shutting the door before Sam could reply.

Sam stepped back from the vehicle, letting her pull away. He was a sweet guy and she felt kind of bad for shutting him out so abruptly like that when he was just trying to help her, but she never had been good at communicating, especially where emotions were involved.

'_I'm more like Dean_.' she thought, feeling disgusted at the comparison since she was still angry at him for refusing to talk to her, '_Just like I refused to talk to Sam_.'

"This is ridiculous." Ty growled to herself.

She leaned over to try and fish her CDs out from under the passenger seat where she liked to hide them without taking her eyes off the road, but when the task proved to be too difficult to accomplish while driving, she settled for snatching up her phone and hitting the speed dial for her best friend.

Ty muttered to herself about how Cade had better answer the phone if she knew what was good for her while she waited impatiently for her to pick up. Finally, after about four rings, her friend's voice greeted her, "Hello?"

"Cade! Jesus, do I have to talk to you!" Ty exclaimed.

"Uh…well, I'm kind of busy at the moment." Cade replied, sounding oddly distracted.

"Okay…uh…just let me ask you something, then." Ty said, starting to feel annoyed at the fact that no one seemed to want to talk to her except Sam.

"Shoot." Cade said quickly.

"Well, say that I…uh…have the opportunity to do something. Something amazing. You know, the kind of adventure that we always right about in our stories. But, it's also really dangerous and I don't mean like recklessly romantic danger. What do you think I should do? Should I go for it anyway? I can't just let this pass me by, right?"

Cade was silent for a moment and Ty began to wonder if maybe her phone had dropped the call before she replied, "Strangely, I think I know what you mean. We definitely need to talk later. But, all I can tell you is do what you think you have to do. It's your life, right? But, if I know you, and I think I should after all these years, you'd better do whatever this is or you'll never forgive yourself. Besides, leaving the house in the morning is dangerous and that's never stopped us before."

"True." Ty nodded slowly, taking in her friend's advice, "I just…"

"Hey, look, sorry about this, but I really have to go. Hey! Wait for me, you ! Ty, I'll talk to you later, okay? Bye." Cade said quickly and before Ty could respond, hung up.

Ty slowly took the phone away from her ear and looked at it like maybe she wasn't sure what had just happened. Frowning again, she chucked the phone into the passenger seat as she pulled up at a stop light and quickly dug out her CDs. She'd been listening to a lot of classic rock lately, but at the moment she was in the mood for something much heavier. Slipknot looked like the perfect fit so she snatched it and popped it in before the light turned green.

"This is the year where hope fails you," Slipknot informed her, "The test subjects run the experiments and the bastards you know, is the hero you hate, but cohesion is possible if we strive. There's no reason, there's no lesson, no time like the present, tell me right now, what have you got to lose? What have you got to lose? Except your soul...who's with us!"

Ty would have liked to say that she was with them, but she wasn't feeling it. She felt very strange actually. Her normal zest for life and her disregard for danger seemed to have suffered a drastic blow from this whole ordeal. She tried to shake the feeling and find her normal groove again, letting the pound of the music blaring from her speakers chase her apprehensions away. She hardly noticed how her foot was becoming heavier on the gas pedal until she spied a cop car coming up behind her and quickly eased it back to an acceptable speed. By the time the cop finally decided to leave her alone and pass her, Ty was starting to feel a little better. Slipknot was starting to convince her that she had a purpose in life and that it was to fight no matter what the cost. Ty found herself singing along as they screamed "if I have to give my life, you can have it!" By the time she'd gotten home again, she felt reaffirmed and ready to face whatever the world or the underworld had to throw at her. She even felt brave (or possibly foolhardy) enough to tell the demon of her vision to just bring it. At least then she wouldn't have to wait around and worry about it.

"Then again, being prepared might be nice, too." she told herself as she turned her car off and headed inside.

Luckily, her mom had already left for work so she wouldn't have to explain why she hadn't come home all night. Not that she would have faced an interrogation or anything. Ever since she'd earned herself the label as the good child in the family, her parents had started to trust her more and conserve their energy for yelling at her little brother. Besides, she was an adult now and both her parents knew that she was on the verge of moving out. Their influence over her actions was swiftly diminishing. Something she couldn't help but feel had been a long time coming.

Ty ignored her brother's dogs and moved into her room where her cats greeted her. She dropped her stuff on the floor where assorted items were scattered in a creative disarray. Every time she entered her room she thought that maybe she should clean it, but she always seemed to find something more important to do. Now was also one of those times because taking a shower was definitely more important to her at the moment. So, she ignored the mess and trooped back across the hallway to the bathroom.

Quickly, she adjusted the water temperature, stripped off her clothes, and practically leaped into the spray of warm water. It felt like heaven to have the dirt finally washed free from her skin. Even her bruises felt better under the torrent of water. Smiling to herself, she began to massage shampoo into her hair and her mind wandered. She thought about the recent events of her life. Funny how running into Dean had changed everything. As cliché as it sounded, the boy had changed her world. Like most every girl, she'd fantasized about a cute guy coming along and whisking her away on some new and exciting adventure, but she never would have expected that guy to have been Dean. Nor would she have anticipated how their relationship had unfolded. And, as infuriating as the boy was, she couldn't help but feel attracted to him nonetheless. Besides, they did have a lot in common.

Turning off the water, Ty grabbed a towel and quickly dried her hair before wrapping it around herself. She hadn't planned on ruminating in the shower for quite so long, but didn't really regret it either since she wasn't in a hurry to be anywhere. Returning to her room, she grabbed the remote for her stereo and turned it on. Pantera immediately leapt from the speakers, making her cats glare at her for the disturbance. She sent them an apologetic smile, but didn't adjust the volume at all. They were used to it by now anyway. Instead, she turned to her closet, opened the door up wide and inspected her options. This was her other day off this week, so she could wear whatever she wanted. Glancing over her shoulder at her treadmill, she decided that she would put on some workout clothes and get in some jogging time before she did anything else. She grabbed her black jazz pants (left-over from when she took dance classes in high school) and turned to dig out some underwear, socks and a sports bra from her dresser. Pulling the clothes on, she noticed one of her cats sitting in the windowsill, waiting for her to lift the blinds for him to look outside. She slipped her sneakers back on and then pulled the cord to lift the blinds about halfway. The cat appeared satisfied, so she snatched up her hairbrush and brushed out her hair as quickly as she was able given its length and thickness. Letting it hang loose to dry for a few minutes, she began to stretch out. Her muscles were a little sore; probably from the struggle that she still had no recollection of, but that her bruises and the boys' injuries assured her had happened. She still felt kind of bad about that. She'd noticed the shadow of a bruise along Sam's jaw, but had avoided bringing it up. She didn't even want to think about Sam's back.

'_Dean can have his bruises_.' she thought in a flash of her previous anger, but as soon as she thought it she mentally took it back.

After her muscles felt sufficiently warmed up, she braided up her hair to keep it out of the way while she jogged and unfolded the treadmill. Starting it up at an easy jogging pace, she forced herself not to pay attention to the distance she had traveled, but rather the music or anything else. She was always better at jogging when she wasn't paying attention to what she was doing.

Ty had been jogging for about ten minutes or so and was feeling pretty good about doing another ten minutes or so when Sam and Dean pulled up outside her house. She couldn't hear their vehicle over the sweet guitar riffs and continued to job obliviously. Really, she wasn't expecting to see or hear from the brother's for another few hours at least. There was no way she could have predicted the fact that the clerk at the glass-repair shop that Dean had gone to was a young woman and therefore highly susceptible to Dean's charm. She had no idea that said clerk had called the workers off other jobs and made the Impala their highest priority in an attempt to ingratiate herself to the attractive young hunter. Had she known how this mechanically inclined floozy had practically thrown herself at Dean, she might have been working at a punching bag and imagining the girl's face as her target rather than calmly jogging to the sounds of "Cemetery Gates." But as things were, Dean's window had been fixed and a new phone number was in his pocket as he and Sam exited the Impala in front of Ty's house a mere hour and a half after Ty had left the motel.

"So, this is her house, huh?" Dean observed, looking over the fairly suburban establishment.

There was no white picket fence, but the house still harkened back to a simpler time. This may have been because the house had been built in a simpler time and had yet to be fixed up at all, but the end result was that the house looked like the sort of place where someone's grandma lived. Not the type of place where an aspiring ghost hunter lived and trained.

"Guess so." Sam said, double-checking the address on the paper against the numbers on the house just in case.

"Yeah, there's her car." Dean nodded towards the green vehicle parked under the wooden covered parking on the side of the house. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed the numbers on the license plate, "Hey, Sam, check out her plate."

Sam looked to where Dean gestured and saw that Ty's car was labeled with 666. He smiled in amusement, looking at his brother and wondering how he possibly found this girl. Sam was about to ask when he noticed that Dean was already moving on to something else that had caught his attention. Following, Sam found himself looking in a window at a plump brown tabby cat. Past the cat, Sam saw why Dean was interested in looking in this room. Ty was jogging on a treadmill, clad in form-fitting black pants and a sports bra. She was facing away from them and apparently didn't know they were here. Sam found his eyes drawn back to the cat in the window. It was ludicrous, but he felt like the cat was glaring at him.

"Dude," Sam hissed, shoving his brother, "stop leering and knock."

"Shut up." Dean replied, moving over to get a better look from a different angle, "I like this song."

Sam couldn't believe his brother. Dean was a pig, he knew that, but lurking outside a girl's window was a new low.

"Dean, this is…" he began to protest.

Dean cut him off with a slicing motion of his hand. He glared at his brother, "This from the guy who lurked outside demon-girl's apartment. Besides, I'm allowed to look. I've already seen her naked, for Christ's sake. You're the peeping tom."

With that Dean turned back to his inspection of Ty's jogging form. The long braid down her back swished enticingly across the skin of her lower back and from where Dean was standing he could see part of her profile. His ears picked up the sound of her shaky and somewhat breathless voice singing along to the music, making him grin. When she began to play air guitar while she jogged, Dean found himself somewhat speechless for a moment.

"Sammy," he finally said, "I think I'm in love."

Sam snorted in reply. Since he'd had no way to answer Dean's accusations about him being the peeping tom in this situation, he'd simply turned his back on the situation and waited impatiently for his brother to find some sense of decency. He knew he shouldn't hold his breath. Still, he was a little surprised at his brother's interest in Ty. She wasn't really Dean's normal fare. Not that she wasn't pretty or anything, she just wasn't the type of stunning beauty or stunningly easy kind of girl that Dean normally chased after. And yet, her personality, he was beginning to discover, was a perfect match for Dean's. It was almost amazing how much they seemed to have in common. Maybe that was why Sam was already starting to feel comfortable with her, because she reminded him on some level of Dean.

Glancing over at his brother, Sam decided though that there was only so much a little brother could take and knocked loudly on Ty's window. The noise drew Ty's attention and she tried to look over her shoulder to see where it was coming from. And almost fell off the treadmill.

"Look what you did." Dean accused, punching Sam in the shoulder.

Sam glared at his brother in response, rubbing the spot where Dean had punched him even though it didn't really hurt. Meanwhile, Ty was having a minor heart attack and very much resembled a deer in the headlights. Her mouth dropped open in shock and when she finally moved it was to leap behind her closet door without even bothering to shut off the treadmill first. Dean was smirking and Sam was feeling almost as embarrassed as he had the last time he walked in on Dean and a girl.

"Turn around!" Ty yelled over the music.

Sam noticed Dean inhaling, prepping to yell back and knew that anything Dean had to say would not be helpful, so he shoved his brother away from the window, nodding apologetically to Ty. He didn't register her response because the next thing he knew the blinds were falling shut. Besides, Dean was grumbling at him like an angry teenager and distracting him anyway. Sam rolled his eyes and did his best to ignore him.

A few minutes later, the front door opened and Ty peeked her head around the safety door.

"Come on in, guys." she said, attempting to brush off her former embarrassment.

She pushed the door open further and stepped back so that the two brothers could come in. She had pulled on the first shirt that had presented itself which had turned out to be her black Lynyrd Skynyrd tank top.

"So, was that your room?" Dean asked curiously, moving past her to inspect the inside of the house.

"Maybe." Ty replied quickly, trying to move past him to stop his progress.

Unfortunately, she couldn't maneuver past his body fast enough to keep him from barging into her room. She felt herself turn slightly red as Dean looked over the hodgepodge with a grin. She became redder when she noticed Sam walking up behind her and peering over her head into the room. She had sort of hoped that neither boy had gotten a chance to really see her comic book collection or the Harry Potter poster on her wall, much less her floor-to-ceiling bookshelf full of fairly dorky history books and sci-fi novels. Not to mention her DVD collection or her autographed photo of Scott Cohen and her framed outline of British Monarchs. The more she looked around her room with a mind to what the boys were seeing, the more objects she found that she wished she had stuffed away out of sight. Like her Spider-Man pillow case or…dear Lord, she'd left her birth control pills sitting on her night stand!

"Alright, out!" she yelled, shoving past Dean and barricading the room with her body.

"What?" Dean asked, feigning innocence, "We were just looking."

"Don't care." Ty snapped, pointing firmly back the way the had come, "We can talk in the living room."

"Whatever." Dean said, looking entirely too amused. He turned around and, as he moved past his brother, whispered loudly, "Dude, did you see all those books? You two could have a read-off."

"Shut up, Dean." Sam and Ty both said at nearly the same time, causing them to look at each other in surprise.

Dean snickered and returned to the living room where he promptly collapsed on the middle of the sofa and put his feet up on the coffee table.

Rather than spend another awkward moment with Sam, Ty quickly followed Dean. Since Dean had taken up almost the whole sofa, she chose to sit at the leather chair next to the family computer station. The chair bore many scars from a downhill struggle against her cats' claws, but it still functioned as a chair which was all she asked of it. Sam glanced from his brother's feet on the coffee table to his relaxed position up to his face that dared him to say anything, decided it wasn't worth it and sat on the loveseat across the room.

"So, what did your dad say?" Ty asked without any preamble.

"He said…" Sam began.

"Same thing I said, get out of here before you get hurt." Dean interrupted.

"So, I explained to him about the visions and how they always come true regardless of what we do." Sam said pointedly, annoyed at the interruption, "I also told him that you're not exactly an innocent bystander, either, since you know about things and want to hunt."

"And?" Ty prompted, hoping that some sort of plan was about to be explained to her.

"He said to keep an eye on you and try to keep off the demon's radar." Sam finished.

"Which means what exactly?"

"Well, you'd think that means no hunting, but since Dad isn't big on vacations, we're sticking to jobs that he's sure aren't related while we keep looking for another weapon. He seems to think that he can take care of this thing by keeping it distracted, no matter how bogus that is." Sam grumbled, obviously annoyed that his dad was taking such a risk.

"Can it, Sammy." Dean snapped, stirring from his position and sitting up.

Ty raised an eyebrow at the silent exchange that followed. She could tell the subject of their dad was thin ice, but it was apparently even more taboo than she'd thought. She waited a moment, watching as the Winchesters engaged in an angry staring contest, before attempting to bring the conversation back into safe territory, "So, does that mean I'm going with you guys?"

If she sounded excited, it was through no fault of her own.

Dean leapt up at her words and tromped outside, swearing. The door banged shut behind him and Ty almost stood up herself in surprise at his reaction. Here he'd been draped across her couch and mocking her possessions one minute while the next he'd stormed out of the room. Since she was new to the ins-and-outs of Dean Winchester, she looked to Sam for an explanation.

"Dad thinks that this is all his fault." Sam explained.

"What? He thinks this demon-thing wanting to barbecue me is Dean's fault?" Ty asked, unable to believe that someone could find a way to pin the blame on Dean for this.

"According to Dad, Dean should never have dragged you into this. If Dean had left you alone, you wouldn't be a target." Sam's voice held such distaste for his dad's opinion that Ty imagined it must have left a sour taste in his mouth.

"Your dad unfamiliar with the phrase 'takes two to tango?'" she demanded, "Besides, how's it anybody's fault this demon is a murdering bastard?"

Sam held up his hands, "Preaching to the choir. I don't buy any of it. But Dean's always listened to what Dad says."

Ty sighed, letting her head fall into her hands. Great, now Dean felt responsible for her impending doom and she felt guilty that he felt guilty. That's all she needed to deal with right now. She thought about telling Sam that Winchesters would be the death of her, but figured the joke wasn't exactly appropriate at the moment. So, instead she pushed herself back to her feet and went after Dean.

"Dean!" she yelled as she stepped outside and kicked the door closed after her.

Her eyes landed on him a second later, sitting in his car and listening to his radio. He was nodding to the music and mouthing the words, occasionally punctuating the drum beats with a slap to his steering wheel. Ty might almost be fooled into thinking that he was fine, that he wasn't beating himself up behind the clever façade. But she was swiftly beginning to know him better than that.

"Dean Winchester," she said, stopping next to his car door and placing her hands on her hips, "you are a dumbass if you think that any of this is your fault."

Dean glanced up at her, but she couldn't really make out his eyes behind the sunglasses he had slipped on. He slowly turned down the music.

"Dean…" she began again, since he wasn't saying anything.

"Look, I'm not talking about this." Dean cut her off, "Just drop it. I have enough Hallmark moments with Sam around, I don't need your help."

"God, you're such a hypocritical prick." Ty growled, "I get a lecture about how hurting you guys while I was possessed is not my fault even though I should have known about the damn thing in the first place and should have been prepared, but the actions of a demon that are completely out of your control and that you had no idea about until this morning are all your fault. Like that makes sense!"

Dean opened the car door, forcing Ty to take a couple steps back, but she was in no way backing down about this. This was stupid and hell, even chauvinistic! And if she didn't set Dean straight, then who would?

Dean stood up and slammed the car door closed, making Ty wince at the noise, before coming to stand toe-to-toe with her. He was using the five or six inches he had on her to his advantage, looking down at her, which was also somewhat infuriating. Ty wasn't sure what it was, but Dean just had this gift for either making her weak at the knee or making her furious.

"I said," Dean repeated slowly and in a dangerously low tone that made Ty shiver inadvertently, "that I'm not talking about this."

"Fine, don't talk. I don't care. Just know that if that's what you're thinking, then you're wrong and I'm going to constantly point that out to you." she replied, feeling especially obstinate.

With that Ty glared her resolve at Dean, expecting another classic stare-down to ensue, not unlike the one she had just witness between Sam and Dean. However, much to her surprise, Dean released an amused snort that dissolved into a chuckle, the tension in his face instantly relaxing. Ty continued to stare at him, wondering if maybe he'd lost his mind. After all, he did, in fact, run around the country chasing ghosts. It could happen.

Apparently the look on her face was pretty comical because Dean continued to laugh to himself, laugh lines creasing the corners of his mouth and his eyes. Ty really had no idea what was going on in his mind and was not really enjoying being left in the dark so she finally demanded, "What is wrong with you?"

Dean shook his head, "I'm starting to think maybe you are cut out for this. You're definitely as pigheaded as a Winchester."

Ty felt herself starting to beam like an eight-year-old that was just told by their hero how proud that person was of them. To distract Dean so that he wouldn't see how deliriously happy that statement made her, she said, "You know, girls don't generally appreciate being compared to pigs."

"Really?" Dean asked sarcastically, eyes wide like he never would have guessed.

"You are such an asshole." Ty declared, but as she spoke her body acted of its own volition, causing her to reach up, fist her hand in Dean's shirt, pull him down until he was within reach and kiss him.

As soon as her lips met his, her mind began to whir, '_What are you doing! What happened to being professional, huh?'_

Dean's arm encircled her waist and pulled her in closer to deepen the kiss and she practically sighed into his mouth. Her pulse was racing, her heart pounding painfully in her chest.

'_Shut the hell up, brain. Have you seen Dean? 'Cause he's really hot._' Ty answered her own inner critic.

Unfortunately, Ty soon felt the need to breath. Cursing her lung capacity, she pulled away. The look on Dean's face made her wish that he wasn't so irresistible. He was really too self-assured for her to be boosting his ego like this, but she just couldn't seem to help it.

"Man, we should totally argue more often." Dean remarked.

Ty felt herself flush a little, realizing that this wasn't the first time things had gotten heated between them as a result of heightened tempers.

'_What's up with that, anyway?_' she wondered, but since she was definitely not going to justify Dean's comment with a response, she simply huffed, "Ugh, I think I hate you" and headed back into the house.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Alright, I'm building up to some more action, I promise. I actually did quite a bit of research for this part, which I'm a little overly proud of. Some more of my research will become clear in the next chapter also. Plus, I got to highlight one of my pet peeves in this chapter and respond to it with a great one-liner. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. It's the part where an outsider includes themselves in the group by saying 'we' when they really should be saying 'you' since they really aren't with you. I hate that. Oh, and I hope Dean comes off as infuriatingly as I tried to write him here. Let me know. Oh, and the song for this chapter is "The Carnival is Over" by Dead Can Dance. Enjoy.

Chapter Nine: When the Circus Came to Town

_Outside  
The storm clouds gathering,  
Moved silently along the dusty boulevard.  
Where flowers turning crane their fragile necks  
So they can in turn  
Reach up and kiss the sky.  
They are driven by a strange desire  
Unseen by the human eye  
Someone is calling.  
I remember when you held my hand  
In the park we would play when the circus came to town.  
Look! over here.  
Outside  
The circus gathering  
Moved silently along the rain swept boulevard.  
The procession moved on the shouting is over  
The fabulous freaks are leaving town.  
They are driven by a strange desire  
Unseen by the human eye.  
The carnival is over.  
We sat and watched  
As the moon rose again  
For the very first time._

Sam stood up when Ty entered, obviously curious as to what was going on now. Ty didn't bother to clue him in, figuring that Dean could handle that and continued past him into her room to pack. She figured that they probably wouldn't be leaving this exact minute, but it couldn't hurt to be prepared. Besides, she needed some time to think about what she could possibly tell her parents about her up and leaving. She was taking all her classes on-line this semester and a lighter load than was usual for her, so at least she didn't have that to deal with, but she would have to quit her job and she doubted that Sam and Dean would allow her to hang around for another two weeks so that she could leave on good terms. Besides all that, leaving was not something she was experienced at. She had lived in this place her whole life. Sure, she'd gone on vacations and she did study abroad once, but this was completely different. She just didn't know how to do it and she would need a little while to figure it all out.

Ty pulled her suitcase out of her closet and began piling clothes inside. Her three cats immediately sensed that she was leaving and were not happy about it. The largest one decided to try lying on top of the suitcase to keep her from packing and she frowned sadly as she pushed him off. She was going to miss her pets. Her pets and her accumulated junk were really all that this place had going for it. And ever since she had rescued two of them from the shelter, they had been really attached to her and hated it when she left for any length of time. Still, if everything turned out okay, she could come back and visit.

"Sorry, kittens, but I've got places to go." she muttered as she emptied her underwear drawer into the suitcase.

Her cats didn't seem comforted by her statement at all, but Ty couldn't be dissuaded now. It was either leave her pets behind and do this or stay here and become a crazy cat lady. So as hard and as new as this experience might be, she was not stopping now. She was not letting this go.

Feeling more than hearing someone approach, Ty glanced over her shoulder as she perused her clothes and noticed Sam and Dean standing in the hallway. She decided not to let on that she had seen them yet since they were currently engaged in a game of rock-paper-scissors and she was curious as to what the loser would have to do. Sam came up short and Dean shoved him forward into her room with a triumphant grin on his face. Sam grumbled something like, "dude, she's your girl," but continued towards her, clearing his throat a little to get her attention.

"Hey, Sam." Ty said quickly, not stopping her rapid selection of clothes to take with her.

"Hey." he replied. He seemed a little ill at ease, but he forged ahead anyway with one of those sweet smiles of his, "At the risk of sounding repetitive, are you okay?"

For some reason it struck Ty as pretty funny that the boys had felt the need to see if she was okay and that they had rock-paper-scissored for it. She laughed in response, making Sam smile uncertainly.

"Sam," Ty finally told him, "you guys don't need to worry about me. I'm a trooper. Just tell me what you want me to do and when we're leaving, and I'll get it done."

Sam looked a little relieved so she decided that it would be okay to talk to him a little more while she thought about this moving stuff. Maybe she could multitask: get to know Sam and develop a convincing lie for Mom and Dad. She gestured towards her futon, "Have a seat, Sam."

Ty tried not to notice that Sam had to pick a path in between her crap to reach the futon. She also ignored the suspicious looks her cats were sending the younger Winchester. Instead, she kept inspecting a pair of jeans like whether or not to take them with was the most important decision she'd ever made in her life. Great, she was already failing at the 'get to know Sam' idea.

"So, how many cats do you have?" Sam asked, his eyes following the progress of Ty's orange tabby as he ran up a cat tree to hide.

'_Oh, perfect. Here comes the crazy cat lady complex again_.' she thought, setting the jeans into her suitcase with a sigh.

"I have three. That one is Riley, the one hiding on the other side of the bed is Brownie and the one glaring at you from the cat tree is Butterscotch." she said, pointing them out. Then, feeling the need to justify herself, she added, "I work at an animal shelter and sometimes work comes home with me."

"An animal shelter? So, why all the books on history and mythology?" Sam asked.

"My focus of study at school." Ty shrugged, feeling a little upset that this was turning into a Q and A session for her instead of for Sam as she'd planned.

Sam seemed to perk up a little at the mention of school, something that Ty found interesting. It only lasted a second, though, as a frown took over his features, "So, you're going to leave school to come with us?"

Ty shook her head, "I figure I can do both since my classes are all online right now."

"Oh." Sam said, a little surprised. Ty took the opportunity to take charge of the questioning.

"You go to school, Sam?"

"I did." Sam nodded, "I was pre-law at Stanford."

Ty's eyes widened and she stopped to look at Sam, "Stanford? I applied there. Couldn't get in."

Sam said nothing, glancing down modestly. Ty could honestly say that she had underestimated Sam. Sure, she'd noticed Dean's ribbing about him being a dork, but she hadn't thought that it was because he was a young genius. She knew what it took to get into Stanford. And for pre-law, holy cow! Who would have thought a demon hunter would also be the next Johnnie Cochran?

"So, what, you want to fight ghosts and then prosecute them?" Ty joked to cover her embarrassment at not realizing how smart Sam really was.

Sam humored her with a smile, "Actually, hunting really wasn't a part of the picture."

"Really?" Ty said, sensing a long story behind the simple statement.

Sam shrugged, "Things change."

That was obviously an out, but Ty didn't feel that it was her place to force the issue. He would tell her when he wanted to. And if he didn't, and if she started feeling especially nosy, she could always ask Dean.

But for the moment, she followed Sam's lead and changed the subject, "So, what happens now?"

"Well, we should probably start looking for our next job." Sam said, "Dad didn't give us any coordinates, so it's up to us to find something."

"Cool. So, how do we do that?" Ty asked.

"Well, web-surf, check out papers, obits, that type of thing. You want to look at things over lunch?" Sam offered.

"Sure. I am kind of hungry. I'd offer to make us something, but I doubt you guys are big on mac 'n cheese." Ty said, frowning at the idea of making these guys lunch, "How about Mexican food? When in the southwest, it's the stuff to get."

"Sounds good." Sam said, standing up.

Ty threw the shirt in her hands into her suitcase and closed the luggage up. She started to follow Sam back to the living room when her eyes alighted upon her black magic eight ball. With a glance towards her doorway to make sure no one was there to witness what she was about to do, she snatched up the black sphere. She closed her eyes and her mind drifted to Dean and the emotions that had swirled inside of her like a tropical storm when she'd kissed him outside.

_'Will Dean and I end up together?_' she thought as clearly as possible before giving the eight ball a firm shake.

The contents of the eight ball swirled before an answer finally appeared. Ty couldn't help but laugh to herself at the prediction. But what did it matter, anyway? It was just a cheesy toy.

Ty hurried into the living room before either boy could come looking for her and wonder what had delayed her. Dean was back on the couch, drinking a pilfered soda from her refrigerator and watching TV. Ty was curious as to what he could possibly have found to watch since it was still light out, which meant that all television programming was obligatorily terrible. The TV show looked suspiciously like Jerry Springer, but Ty couldn't know for sure because Dean hit the power.

"Ready to go? I'm starving." he said, standing up and clapping his hands together.

"Me, too." Ty agreed, "Let's take your car. Or did you want to rock-paper-scissor for it?"

Dean froze for a second, then quickly opened his mouth to give her some kind of excuse. Ty didn't wait to hear it and instead headed out the door, grabbing her laptop and smirking to herself. She heard the boys following her, but didn't look back. She just listened closely and was rewarded for her attentiveness with the sound of Sam saying, "She totally busted you, man."

To which Dean replied, "Shut it, Sam."

Sam countered, "What you get for telling her my middle name."

"Just get in the car before I kick your ass."

The Impala was unlocked so Ty hopped in the backseat and waited for the brothers to join her. When they got in and closed the door, they were both quiet.

"I know a place that's good. Go down to the stop sign and turn left." she instructed because the quiet kind of bothered her since she knew it was due to the fact that they didn't want to keep bickering about her in front of her.

Dean followed her directions while she amused herself looking through the objects that she shared the backseat with. Ty was what one might call book-smart. Thus far in school she had maintained a 4.0 average and was on track to graduate with three majors: history, anthropology, and classics. She didn't have a clue what she wanted to do with her education, but she enjoyed learning and those were the topics that interested her so she went with it. So, when left with objects to peruse, her curiosity made her incapable of leaving them alone. It was anthropological really. These were artifacts of the boys' lives. They might tell her something about them, maybe something they might never actually say.

Most of the stuff was clothes and bags of half-eaten junk food that she wished she'd never found, but she was finally rewarded for her snooping by a thick and worn journal. She glanced over at Sam and Dean to see if they'd noticed her excavation, but they both appeared to be absorbed with looking out the window at the scenery. She turned her attention back to the book and cautiously opened it.

_'I_ _went to Missouri and learned the truth_.' she read, '_What does that mean?_'

"Hey, we getting close?" Dean called.

Ty quickly lowered the journal out of sight and took stock of their surroundings. The restaurant was rapidly approaching on the right.

"It's Manuel's, over there on the right." she pointed.

They pulled into the parking lot and Dean killed the engine. Ty quickly stowed the journal under some clothes and followed them inside. She brought her laptop and noticed that Sam also had his tucked under his arm.

Inside, a very bored looking waitress in a skirt short enough that Ty found it inappropriate for work attire seated them in a section that was remarkably empty of patrons. Ty supposed that couldn't be a bad thing given their topic of discussion. She didn't bother looking at a menu, but placed her order almost upon seating herself in the booth. Sam and Dean both looked surprised, as did the waitress, but Ty couldn't help herself. She was a picky eater and she knew what she liked from here so she always got the same thing. There was no sense in wasting time.

"And for you guys?" the waitress asked, hurriedly scribbling on her pad of paper.

"Uh…give us a sec, sweetheart." Dean said, snatching a menu off the table and quickly perusing it, "How about the spicy beef burrito?"

"How hot you want that?" she asked.

"How hot can you make it?" Dean asked with a raised eyebrow and a markedly less than innocent smile.

Ty resisted the urge to kick him under the table and instead just shared a look with Sam that conveyed mutual embarrassment.

The waitress blushed under Dean's gaze, dropping her eyes to make further notes, "And to drink?"

"Coke." Dean said shortly, taking the opportunity to more closely examine their server who, much to Ty's frustration, was rather attractive with tanned skin and long black hair.

"And for you?" she asked Sam.

"I'll have what she's having, but with Sprite." he said, handing over his menu.

The waitress accepted it and then reached for Dean's. He held on to it for a second, not allowing her to take it before finally releasing it with a grin. She blushed again and quickly retreated. Ty rolled her eyes. Sure, she hadn't faired much better under Dean's attention, but it was still fairly corny when viewed from a distance.

Sam opened his laptop and Ty followed suit. She thought about asking Sam what she should search for, but it dawned on her as she found an Internet connection to tap into that she'd like a moment to take a closer look at the case they had just finished. Maybe that would give her some clues on how to take it from here anyway. So, she typed in Angela Hamilton and let Google work its magic. About a half a billion more hits than she possibly could have expected appeared so she narrowed her search to Arizona and added in Carefree Highway to see if that might help. The top of the search results page provided a link to an old newspaper article. Ty read the article quickly, but couldn't help but exclaim at the news it presented.

"She was suicidal!"

Dean jumped in surprise at the outburst and instinctively looked around to see if it had drawn attention, but of course there was no one around to care, "What the heck are you yelling about?"

"Angela, the bitch that possessed me, she was suicidal. I can't believe you two didn't get this. It says right here that the family had some major issues including the scandal caused by their daughters repeated suicide attempts." Ty related.

"Okay, our bad. Geez, you didn't even know about the highway." Dean grumbled.

Ty was about to remind him that she wasn't the one bragging about superior knowledge in the subject of hunting, but Sam beat her to the punch, "Guys, what do you think about this: 'Young Man Found Mutilated At Carnival?'"

"Mutilated?" Dean asked.

Sam didn't respond but nodded past him at the approaching server who carried a tray loaded with beverages, a bowl of chips and salsa. Ty took the opportunity to search for the headline Sam had read and soon had the article opened up on her screen. She scanned the article, skipping most of the part about the kid's family and focusing on the details of the murder. The article was vague on a lot of the specifics, but it did mention that the kid had been dismembered and disemboweled. Ty grimaced and tried not to think about the food she was hoping to still be able to enjoy.

"The kid was found last week the day after a traveling carnival came through town on the grounds where it was set up. Says he was dismembered and disemboweled. The cops tried to find carnival employees for questioning but have been unable to locate any thus far." Sam whispered conspiratorially, "Looks like there's no record of them anywhere."

Ty shuddered at his words. It was somehow worse to hear it out loud. Still, she searched for carnival murders while Sam related the tale and found another entry that looked similar. She scanned the page before announcing her findings.

"Hey, I think I may have another one. Young girl goes missing after she goes with her friends to a traveling carnival. Her body was found a week after the carnival left town. It says that vital organs were torn out of her and her hands and feet had been ripped off. The cops had no leads and no witnesses when this was published ten years ago."

"Same place?" Dean asked.

Ty shook her head, "No. This one's in Canistota, South Dakota. Sam's was in Elgin, Illinois. Guess that's where the traveling part of traveling carnival comes in."

"I think I've got another. Twenty years back in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Carnival shows up, kid goes missing, carnival splits, kid's found dead." Sam chimed in before Dean could come up with a comeback for Ty's sarcastic remark.

"Okay, so it sounds creepy, but supernatural?" Dean asks, "Maybe it's just some creepy, devil-worshipping pedophile carnies?"

"Maybe." Sam admitted, but he was giving Dean a look.

"Okay, fine. But how are we going to find these guys? If the cops can't find them, then how are we?"

"Maybe Dad knew something about it. He's picked up on scantier patterns than this before." Sam suggested.

"Alright." Dean sighed, "I'll grab the journal. You two keep looking."

Dean got up and headed back outside while Ty refined her search for missing kids and carnivals. She got another hit from three years back. She investigated further and found a few clues that looked familiar.

"Kid found torn to shreds after disappearing at a carnival. Authorities say it looks like a wolf attack even though wild life experts swear there are no indigenous wolves in the area, only the Mexican Gray Wolf which lives much further south. This is Logan, New Mexico."

"So, we've got four kids going back twenty years with two in just the last few." Sam thought out loud.

"These locations aren't even remotely close to each other." Ty pointed out, "It's not local."

"There must be something drawing whatever this is to these spots. Some reason why it would travel so far."

The pair lapsed into silence, staring at their respective screens and willing an epiphany to happen while they munched on the complimentary chips and salsa. Dean reentered and the waitress approached with their food at almost the same moment. Sam slowly closed his laptop and set it aside, delaying further research until after lunch. Ty followed suit, her stomach growling at the smell of freshly cooked chicken fajitas waiting to be devoured. She watched her plate closely as it descended towards the table, but the movement also attracted her eyes to the journal on the table in front of Dean, the same journal she had discovered in the car. She wondered what information the journal contained if the boys were referencing it on this matter, but figured she could put off asking for the moment in order to satisfy her newly awakened hunger.

"Thanks…Jennifer." Dean drawled, his eyes picking out the nametag displayed on her chest, probably simply because it was in the vicinity of her cleavage.

"No problem." she replied, apparently no longer demure now that she was used to Dean's flirting, "Let me know if you need anything."

"Oh, will do." Dean nodded quickly with a sultry smile.

"Dude, we're trying to eat." Sam elbowed him after the waitress had walked away and Dean hadn't missed the chance to stare at her ass.

"What?" Dean asked, wide eyed.

Ty snorted at that and kept her attention to her plate. She was jealous, but she wasn't about to make a scene over it. Well, maybe not yet anyway. But what was Dean's problem? Had he lost interest in her or something? Was he deliberately being a pig? Sure, she knew they weren't in an actual relationship or anything where she had a right to be upset, but it still hurt. And, as a result of her emotional distress, her food didn't taste nearly as good as it usually did. She cursed Dean mentally and forced herself to eat it anyway. She had grown up in a household with a teenage brother and had learned never to waste food. She expected that life on the road with these guys would teach her much the same lesson so she might as well start now.

Five minutes or so passed in silence as the trio all wordlessly pushed forks across plates and wiped salsa off their hands as they shoveled and stuffed Mexican entrees into their mouths. Ty mused that eating was never attractive no matter who you are, but clamped down on the thought before it could lead into dangerous territory.

'_Don't be girly. Don't be girly. Don't be girly_.' she chanted in her mind.

The mantra seemed to help until she made the mistake of looking up enough to see Dean downing an entire glass of Coca Cola in one long swallow. Apparently, his food was a bit spicier than anticipated because she could see a line of sweat beading along his hairline. She almost made a sarcastic comment, but knew with frightening certainty that she wasn't emotionally stable enough for conversation with Dean at the moment. She would snap, there was no question about it. What she would say or do was impossible to predict, but it would most likely be something that made her continued presence in this group uncomfortable and that was the last thing she needed right before they set out to fight evil carnies or whatever the hell was going on with these kids.

Sam pushed his plate towards the center of the table, finishing his meal before either Ty or Dean, "Good call on the fajitas, Ty."

"Thanks." Ty muttered, finally accepting defeat in regards to her own meal and pushing it away from her, "You can have the rest of mine if you want."

"You sure?" Sam asked, giving her his mildly concerned face that told her it was okay to tell him anything.

Ty imagined that Sam got people to tell him all kinds of things with an expression like that.

"Yeah." she nodded, pushing it further away from her and into his area of the dining surface.

The waitress must have sensed empty plates like blood in the water (or maybe she'd been scoping out Dean the whole time) because she appeared at the table as if from nowhere. Ty didn't even have a chance to mentally prepare for her presence before she was there with her perfect smile asking, "How are we doing?"

She couldn't stop herself, "Well, I've got to pee, Jennifer. Thanks for asking."

With that she pushed roughly passed the serving bimbo and made a beeline for the restroom. She didn't really have to pee, but it was a convenient excuse for some alone time. She had to make a decision here. Either she was going to be a professional which meant no, absolutely no, office romance. Or she was going to continue with this weird thing that had developed between her and Dean. Either she was going to get over this stupid jealousy and forget it since she didn't own the guy and had no right to feel this way on account of his behavior or she was going to chew his ass out about being such a jerk and demand that he own up to the fact that there _was_ something between them. Because there was. It didn't matter that she was, still after over a year of being single, still on the rebound from her one and only serious relationship. It didn't matter that this was the first time she had ever even crushed on someone since her ex. It also made absolutely no difference that when it came to emotions she was about as experienced and in tune with herself as a penguin in flight. The only thing that mattered was that she felt this way and Dean _had_ to feel something, too. He had to, didn't he?

Ty shoved the door to the bathroom as if it embodied her uncertainties and was rewarded with a satisfying bang that made everyone in the immediate vicinity jump. She didn't pause a second to acknowledge their reaction, but barreled inside, heedless of whether or not someone else might be heading out. Luckily for such a hypothetical person, there was no one else inside and Ty was able to stomp through without a collision and barricade herself inside a stall. Sparing a moment to put down the toilet seat, she collapsed onto the porcelain and dropped her head into her hands. When she'd decided that she wanted to fight the forces of evil, she hadn't expected it would be such a headache. Although, to be fair, it wasn't really the forces of evil that were the big problem at the moment (ironically enough), it was Dean Winchester that was causing her grief.

'_Dean's kind of a force of evil_.' Ty groused in her mind.

Ty took a few deep breathes, holding them for a few seconds before exhaling. She could think about this rationally. She wasn't going to be impulsive about this (although being impulsive seemed to be the theme of her current adventure). She would weigh the pros and cons and make an educated decision.

On the one hand, she could prove herself as a hunter without getting entangled into some romantic bullshit. Probably save herself a nice heaping of heartache, also.

On the other hand, Dean was hot. But not only was he hot, she actually _liked_ him. Sure, he was kind of an idiot, but she liked him. She liked that he loved classic rock as much as she did, if not more. She liked his car and how obsessive he was about it even if she felt that she had to tease him for that very reason. She liked how much he obviously loved his brother and how close they were. And she liked how he wanted to protect her even though he barely knew her. Hell, she even liked that he could push her buttons.

'_No, no, no! This is not about what may or may not be between you and Dean. This is about your chance to get out of this place. This is about doing something important: saving people, hunting things. Not stupid, daytime television, soap opera crap. Stop being such an idiot. You will not waist any more time thinking about this. Pull it together, get over it and get back out there!_' Ty admonished herself.

"Right." she nodded to herself, standing up and smoothing out her clothes.

'_If anything else with Dean happens, then so be it. But you will not ruin this. For all you know, he doesn't even like you that much. There will be no decisions made based upon what should have been a one-night stand._' she continued to coach herself as she slowly exited the bathroom.

Ty marched back over to the table, snatched the bill out of Dean's hands, and handed it and her card to Jennifer in one swift motion before settling back into her seat. Everyone was looking at her, even the waitress, so she smiled awkwardly, "What?"

All three shook their heads, a somewhat comical reaction that helped Ty to relax. She shrugged, almost to herself, and reopened her laptop. She Googled a picture of the United States and, referencing numerous state maps, put approximate markers on the spot where kids had turned up shredded. Four points across the middle of the country. She squinted at them, trying to will the answer as to how they were connected into existence. She idly traced her mouse between the points as she thought. Then inspiration struck.

"Hey!" she said, almost too loudly.

She had apparently been kind of absorbed because she hadn't even noticed Jennifer leave or return with her receipt. Dean was browsing through the journal and Sam was trying to read over his shoulder despite Dean shoving him away and hoarding the book. They both looked up at her with raised eyebrows, but Ty put off answering them long enough to take her card back and sign the receipt. Feeling a little guilty about her earlier rudeness, she also added a reasonably generous tip before handing the paper over. However, her eyes narrowed when she saw Jennifer slip Dean a second piece of paper that she was sure contained a phone number and she felt like jumping up and taking it back, but reigned it in, reminding herself of her plan to go with the flow.

"So?" Sam asked, leaning forward on his elbows and pulling her attention away from Dean who was pocketing the phone number with a wink and a grin.

Ty nodded her head towards the door, "Tell you outside. Come on."

She got up, leading the way with her laptop still open in her hands. While she walked, she used the stupid Paint program that comes with every Windows operating package but rarely ever served a purpose to physically draw out the lines that she had visualized. By the time they reached the Impala, she had a reasonable diagram to show them. But, before she flipped her computer around to reveal her insight, she decided to do another quick search to confirm her suspicion. It only took a few more seconds on the world wide web to verify that she had to be on to something.

"Okay, so spill." Dean demanded after waiting impatiently for the tiny amount of time it took her to double check that she was right.

Ty turned her computer screen so that Sam and Dean could both see that she had drawn lines connecting the towns where the deaths had occurred. She had also found that if she continued the pattern, it directed her towards a spot somewhere in northern Colorado. Her further research had shown that the town of Greeley, Colorado, was expecting a carnival at the end of the week and that everyone should attend the family affair.

"What the hell…?" Dean began, staring at the screen.

"Greeley, Colorado." Ty answered, pointing to the spot where the lines connected to complete the shape of a pentagram, "That's where it's happening next."


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Alright, new chapter! I hope you are all as excited as I am. Hopefully this will explain a couple things, get some other things rolling and provide some comic relief. The song is from Judas Priest, chapter title is the song title. Oh, and if you find what happens to Dean in this chapter at all comical, you should read a fic by stealthyone called "When Chupacabras Attack."

Chapter Ten: Parental Guidance

_You say I waste my life away  
But I live it to the full  
How would you know anyway  
You're just mister dull  
Why don't you get into the things we do today  
You could lose twenty years right away  
So we say  
We don't need no  
No no no  
Parental guidance here  
We don't need no  
No no no  
Parental guidance here  
Every day you scream at me  
To turn the music low  
Well if you keep on screaming  
You'll make me deaf you know.  
You always chew me out, because I stay out late  
Until your three-piece suit comes back in date  
Get one thing straight  
We don't need no  
No no no  
Parental guidance here  
We don't need no  
No no no  
Parental guidance here  
There's no communication  
I'm tired of explanation  
Is this message getting through  
You went through the same thing too  
Don't you remember what it's like to lose control  
Put on my jacket for you get too old  
Let's rock and roll  
We don't need no  
No no no  
Parental guidance here  
We don't need no  
No no no  
Parental guidance here  
We don't need no  
No no no  
Parental guidance here  
We don't need no  
No no no  
Parental guidance here  
Oh no  
One life  
And I'm gonna live it up_

"How the hell do you know this?" Dean demanded.

"I'm smart." Ty answered immediately with a grin, but quickly added, "And if you say 'no, seriously,' I will totally kick you in the balls."

Dean paused, staring at her with his mouth open. Slowly, he backed up a few steps, lowered his hands into a defensive position and asked, "Okay, so how did you so brilliantly come to his conclusion?"

Sam snickered and Ty felt like giving him a high five but instead decided that she probably should explain since there was still the off chance (like a billion to one) that she might be wrong.

"So, there was this episode of Charmed…" she began quickly, but was interrupted by Dean's groan. She glared at him, "Shut up! That show used to be cool. Anyway, the point is that there was this episode where they were fighting something. I don't remember what. A demon maybe. But all the attacks were at these points that formed a pentagram. It gave me the idea to see if maybe the same things happening here. I checked and there is going to be a carnival this week in the perfect spot in Colorado to complete this pattern."

"Huh." Sam said as if he were actually stunned that a TV show might actually prove helpful in real life.

"And," Ty continued, beginning to feel rather proud of herself for having thought of this no matter what her inspiration might have been, "on the show, the points weren't the really important part. They were just crossing centers of power like leylines or something. The most important part was what is in the center. So, what is right here?"

She held up her map, her finger hovering above the state of Kansas. She looked at both the boys, searching their faces to see what they thought and found that they both looked a little pale. The area she was pointing to meant something to them.

"What?" she asked, "What is it?"

Sam and Dean met each other's gaze, "You know what's in that area, right?"

Sam nodded, "Stull."

"Stull?" Ty asked, feeling very much out of the loop.

Dean was already moving back to the driver's side of the car and unlocking the door, "Stull, Kansas, is a gateway to hell."

Ty's jaw muscles went slack and her lips curved into a large 'O.' That couldn't be good.

Sam was already at the passenger door, waiting for Dean to let him in. Ty hurried over, feeling tension escalating, pouring off both the Winchesters. Ever since she had pointed out the center of the pentagram, bad vibes had radiated off them like a heat wave. Ty had a feeling that her first hunt had in no way prepared her for whatever was about to go down with these carnies, whoever or whatever they were.

"When is this carnival supposed to be in Colorado?" Dean asked as the Impala's engine roared to life.

"Uh…" Ty said, stalling as she double-checked her information, "Three days from now."

"Great." Dean grumbled, "Two phone numbers in one day and we've already got to skip town. Ty, we'll go by your place and grab your stuff. We can be in Albuquerque tonight and Greeley tomorrow."

"Wait, wait! I have to tell my parents I'm leaving and…and my job! Give me a couple minutes." Ty protested.

She'd expected them to take off, but she hadn't expected them to want to leave right this minute! Well, at least she'd already started packing. Ty's mind buzzed as she tried to think of a convincing way of telling her parents that she was running off with two demon hunters to hunt evil carnies and possibly meet her death in flames on a ceiling without actually saying any of that.

"Dean, it's not that far. We can wait until tomorrow." Sam proposed, playing peacemaker.

Dean grumbled under his breath, but nodded, "Yeah, alright. I guess we can wait until tomorrow morning. You think you can be ready by then?"

He glanced into the review mirror at her and Ty glared back at him, not liking the implications of his statement.

"Yes." she hissed, "I think I can be ready by then."

"Good." Dean replied, ignoring her tone.

Ty thought angry thoughts at the back of Dean's head. He had to be trying to piss her off. He couldn't be naturally this annoying. How could she like him and hate him at the same time?

Ty sulked for the remainder of the short ride back to her house. She tried to continue thinking of a cover story, but her thoughts could only get so far before an angry interjection about what an ass Dean was broke her concentration.

"Hey, what are you going to tell your parents? Do they know about hunting?" Sam asked suddenly, frankly freaking Ty out a little bit with how close to her current train of thought his questioning was.

"No, they don't know and I'm trying to think of something right now." Ty said.

"I hope you're not planning on telling them the truth." Dean said as he pulled up in her driveway.

"Yeah, I was just looking for the right way of saying 'Mom and Dad, I'm going ghost-busting. See ya!'" Ty snapped, "Of course I'm not going to tell them the truth."

Dean said "Good" at the same time as Sam asked "Why?"

The brothers glared at each other before Ty could respond to either of them and Ty got the feeling that maybe this wasn't a new topic of discussion.

"She can't tell them the truth, Sam." Dean insisted.

"Why not? Don't they have a right to know what their daughter wants to do with her life?" Sam argued.

"Not when they won't believe her! They'll toss her in an institution!"

Ty felt like pointing out that she was personally siding with Dean and that she didn't particularly like padded walls, but Sam was already yelling back at his older brother, "Why do you always think lying is the answer?"

"Why do you think the telling the truth is so great? You know the truth is something that really jives with what we do."

"She shouldn't lie to the people she cares about!"

"Why? 'Cause you did?" Dean's mouth snapped shut, but a second too late to cut off his accusation.

Ty watched as Sam's face scrunched up in shock and fury: shock as if he couldn't believe his brother had just said that and fury that he had thought it and had the audacity to verbalize the thought. Ty was about eighty percent certain that Sam was going to punch Dean in the face, or at least try. Dean was tense, waiting, as if he were expecting the same reaction. Ty thought about saying something, but couldn't find the words to break through the heaviness that had settled in the car.

"Yeah, Dean." Sam finally ground out between tightly clenched teeth, obviously restraining himself from doing or saying more, "Because I did and look what happened."

"Sam," Dean began slowly, cautiously, "this isn't anything like that."

Ty entertained the possibility of silently slipping out of the car and wondered if she could get away with it. She glanced at the door handle, only inches from her hand. Her fingers twitched as she thought about turning it, ever so slowly.

"Fine." Sam spat out the word and made Ty jump.

She looked over at the younger of the brothers and couldn't help but feel concerned for him. Obviously something terrible and painful had happened to him. Something that her situation was bringing to mind. She felt bad for him, but she still couldn't help but agree with Dean on this point. Telling her parents would just cause more problems and almost certainly end with her storming out of the house, burning all bridges for possible return. Informing them that she was going on a trip to fight things they probably didn't even believe in wasn't like telling them she wanted to study abroad…

"Oh, I got it." she blurted and then instantly regretted reminding the boys of her existence.

They both looked at her and she unconsciously shrank lower in her seat, wishing they would stop looking at her, especially Sam.

'_I'm not here_.' she urged them mentally, '_You can't see me_.'

But apparently the Force was not particularly strong with her because they boys did seem to notice her and were waiting for her to say or do something else.

"Uh…could you guys maybe wait here for a little bit?" she asked.

She caught Dean nodding, but didn't really wait for an answer before bolting out of the car. Both of her parents vehicles (her dad's beaten up truck and her mom's supremely lame Buick) were both present so this was probably the best time to get this over with. She paused before the door to prepare, reviewing her story. Then, she took a breath and a quick glance back at the black Chevy in the driveway (that really made the other cars look like little girls' bicycles with pink streamers and all) before heading inside.

"Hey, Anna." her dad greeted her from his usual spot on the couch right in front of the TV.

"Hey, Dad. Where's Mom?" Ty asked when it became apparent that her mother wasn't in the room.

"Jan!" her dad yelled helpfully.

"Coming!" her mom yelled back from some obscure location in the house.

Ty fidgeted impatiently until her mother appeared in the living room. She looked at Ty questioningly and her dad actually lowered the volume on the television, a clear indication that they were ready for her to spill whatever it was that she had to say that required them to both be present.

"I know this is kind of last minute, but it turns out that there's this really great opportunity for me to join a couple of grad students to do some fieldwork." Ty began, explaining quickly, hoping that her parents wouldn't notice that she was really nervous, "I didn't say anything about it because I didn't think I'd be able to go, but someone just dropped out and I'm in, so I need to tell you guys that I'll be leaving tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow?" her mom exclaimed, "Where are you going?"

"North. Some place in Colorado that no one's ever heard of. Don't worry. I've got everything under control. It's just all happening really fast." she tried to sound confident and reassuring.

"Who're these kids you're going with?" her dad demanded.

"They're names are Dean and Sam. I just met them. Apparently they do the same kind of stuff that I do. Don't worry, Dad. They're good guys." as soon as she said it she realized her parents were going to need further assurance before feeling especially happy about her taking off with two older guys, so she quickly added another lie, "Besides, Dr. Barrington will be there the whole time to supervise."

Ty did not nor had she ever known a Dr. Barrington, but she was confident that the title of doctor would soothe her parents' worries. Besides, it was a better answer than what she would normally go with: some kind of peevish remark about how she was old enough to supervise herself. Her eyes darted from her mom to her dad and back again, judging their reactions. They were both quiet, absorbing the information. Finally, her mom asked, "How long will you be gone?"

Ty almost froze since she didn't have a real answer for that question. But, like the accomplished bull-shitter that an academic career had made her (because that's all essay writing really was), she made up an answer on the spot, "Well, that depends on how the field work goes. Dr. Barrington said that we won't really know how long it will take until we get on sight and see what we're dealing with. But, I'll call and let you know how things are going."

"How are you getting there? You're car won't make it cross-country." her dad objected.

"I'm riding with Sam and Dean. Dr. Barrington's already heading out to get everything set up. We're supposed to meet him there tomorrow night." Ty crossed her fingers behind her back, willing her parents to stop asking questions and just wish her well.

"I want to meet these guys." her dad said like she'd known he would.

"I figured." she nodded, "I met with them for lunch and asked them to come over. They're waiting outside."

With that, Ty leaped back towards the door and disappeared outside.

'_So far, so good_.' she thought as she closed the door behind her and let out the breath she'd been holding, '_Damn it! Why'd I think that? Whenever anyone thinks that in the movies, something bad happens! Man, maybe I should knock on wood. Dean's head'll probably work._'

Sam rolled down the window when Ty approached the car.

"So?" he asked.

"Kind of told them that you guys are grad students and we're going to do fieldwork in Colorado." Ty explained with a sheepish grin.

"That's my girl." Dean said approvingly, but his face was scrunched up in an uncomfortable expression and he was fidgeting in his seat.

Sam frowned slightly, but didn't comment on it. He just asked, "What kind of fieldwork?"

"I didn't specify, but they'll probably assume archaeological." Ty shrugged.

"So, that's like what? Digging up bones and shit?" Dean asked and then burped loudly.

Ty wrinkled her nose at him, wondering what had gotten into him. Then, she remembered.

'Spicy burrito. Right. Guess his stomach isn't as tough as he thought.' she snickered mentally.

"Dude, what's your problem?" Sam demanded.

"Nothing." Dean snapped, his face telling a complete different story, "It's just…that burrito's not really agreeing with me."

"Dean, how many times do you have to get acid indigestion before you'll learn not to eat freaking spicy food?" Sam lectured.

"Why don't you…" Dean began in an irritated voice, but then cut off abruptly.

Ty didn't hear any tell-tale sign of the dangerous territory she was now in, but the smell that now wafted from the open window caused her to back up a couple steps and wave her hand in front of her nose to clear the air.

"Safety?" Dean offered, a slightly embarrassed smile on his face.

"Ugh, Dean!" Sam complained, hurriedly getting out of the car and frantically beating the infected air away from his face.

"Dude, my parents want to meet you!" Ty gasped as she backed a little further away from the car as more of the smell was released when Sam opened the door.

"Hey, I can't help it!" Dean protested as he got out of his side and faced them over the hood of the Chevy.

"Just stay over there." Sam said, holding his hand up to ward Dean off as he backed closer to Ty. He looked over at Ty, "Maybe it would be best to stay in the open air."

"Seriously, this is not my fault!" Dean complained, "I just…"

This time Ty and Sam both heard the sound that is only funny when it comes from a whoopee cushion. Ty covered her mouth to hide the fact that she was actually finding this somewhat funny as well as horrifying. Sure, this was making it more difficult to pass the guy's off as trustworthy professionals, but on the other hand she had seen enough Monty Python that she appreciated the humor of the situation as well. Besides, Dean deserved the embarrassment after being such an ass at the restaurant.

'_The sad part is that you find Mr. Flatulence over there attractive_.' her brain teased.

'_Shut up. I don't right now!_' Ty protested, '_That smell is anything but attractive._'

"Man," Sam said, unable to disguise his laughter, "you are not touching Mexican food ever again."

"Yeah." Ty couldn't help but agree, "That smell definitely puts a damper on your sex appeal."

Dean glared at them both, but the effect was ruined by another involuntary expulsion of gaseous material. Ty clamped her hands over her mouth again, unsuccessfully attempting to contain a snort of laughter. Sam didn't bother to try and staunch his own glee over his brother's unfortunate condition.

"Alright." Ty finally pulled herself together enough to speak without dissolving into a fit of giggles, "You stay downwind and I'll get my parents."

"Bite me. What are you guys, six?" Dean snapped and Sam's laughter redoubled, but Ty sent him a look and he nodded, quickly calming himself down.

Ty had to quickly stifle her own laughter a second time before she opened the door. Dean had a point. She was being kind of childish about this, but it was nice to be immature every once in awhile. Besides, she might as well get it out of her system, "Mom, Dad! The guys are out here if you want to come out and meet them!"

Ty's parents came outside and Sam immediately stepped forward to shake both their hands while Ty made introductions. She purposefully left off Sam and Dean's last name because she wasn't sure whether they wanted her to give it or not.

"So you guys both go to ASU?" Ty's mom asked Sam.

But Ty was more concerned with her dad who was moving over to Dean's car.

"This your car?" he asked.

"Yes, sir." Dean nodded, pride evident in his voice.

"I used to have a car like this. They're like a boat on the road, but they're nice cars." her dad nodded approvingly.

Ty sighed with relief. If Dean's car met with her father's approval, she was sure that Dean and Sam would also. Her mom also seemed fairly charmed by Sam who was exuding "polite, young student" vibes. Ty couldn't help but smile excitedly. This was actually going to work. She was getting out of here! Not that she really needed her parents' approval to do so, but it was nice to not have to fight them for once in her life.

She lost track of the two conversations until she noticed Dean shaking her father's hand and her dad heading back into the house. Her mom followed suit, saying goodbye to Sam.

Ty glanced over her shoulder to make sure her parents weren't looking before sending a thumbs up to the boys, "See you guys in the morning. What time you coming by?"

"Like eight or nine." Sam said with a glance over at Dean. He continued in a whisper, "Maybe earlier if he keeps this up all night."

Ty grinned at Sam, sharing the joke with him.

"Sam! Move you ass!" Dean snapped, apparently not appreciating their mutual enjoyment of his suffering.

"Just keeps the windows down and breathe through your mouth, Sam!" Ty called her advice to him as he headed for the car.

"You're both going to regret this." Dean vowed.

Ty just rolled her eyes and headed back inside. She had more packing to do.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Here's another chapter. The trio is rolling now and next chapter, I think, the shit-eth will starting hitting the fan-eth. Patience everybody. I promise it won't be plot-building and emo goodness forever. This installment's song is Saving Grace by Tom Petty off the new CD. I'm going to the Tom Petty concert tonight, so I figured I had to put this in. Review and I'll clone Jensen Ackles for you (that's not illegal, right? ;) ). Okay, maybe I'll just like you a whole lot.

Chapter Eleven: Saving Grave

_I'm passing sleeping cities  
Fading by degrees  
Not believing all I see to be so  
I'm flyin' over backyards  
Country homes and ranches  
Watching life between the branches below  
And it's hard to say  
Who you are these days  
But you run on anyway  
Don't you baby?  
You keep running for another place  
To find that saving grace  
I'm moving on alone over ground that no one owns  
Past statues that atone for my sins  
There's a guard on every door  
And a drink on every floor  
Overflowing with a thousand amens  
And it's hard to say  
Who you are these days  
But you run on anyway  
Don't you baby?  
You keep running for another place  
To find that saving grace  
Don't you baby?  
You're rolling up the carpet  
Of your father's two-room mansion  
No headroom for expansion no more  
And there's a corner of the floor  
They're telling you is yours  
You're confident but not really sure  
And it's hard to say  
Who you are these days  
But you run on anyway  
Don't you baby?  
You keep running for another place  
To find that saving grace  
Don't you baby?_

Ty tossed her covers back, admitting defeat after trying unsuccessfully to get some sleep for about four hours. There was just no way it was going to happen. She had finished packing, she'd wrapped up her affairs as best she was able. She'd even made a last minute trip to the store to get some things she figured she might need. There was nothing left for her to do but wait until the boys showed up and then get in the car with them and leave. She tried calling her best friend again, but par usual at this time of night, Cade had turned off her phone. Most of Ty's friends had learned to turn their phones off at night to prevent her calling. Ty couldn't help that she was a chronic insomniac or that she preferred to be active at night and sleep during the day, but apparently that made her friends less inclined to talk to her since they enjoyed their sleep patterns.

So, since sharing her sleeplessness wasn't an option, Ty decided to pull her clothes on and go sit outside. It was finally autumn in the desert and the nights were cool and beautiful. Ty often enjoyed walking around outside at night simply because of how gorgeous the weather was. The weather wasn't something she usually enjoyed about her hometown (like most desert-children, Ty preferred her climate dark, cold and rainy), but this was different. This was the kind of weather that made her want to be outside, to do things at night, to go out and hunt things. But since she already had enough of that on her plate, she decided to settle for perching on the trunk of her car and gazing up at the smog-obscured heavens. A nearly full moon shone down at her, appearing somewhat orange tonight, no doubt due to chemicals in the air that would most likely lead to global warming. Still, impending doom of the planet aside, it was nice.

Ty kicked her legs and absently began humming an Ozzy tune that had been stuck in her head all day. She tried not to think about the lyrics because lately a good chunk of her favorite music seemed to remind her of Dean. Instead, she tried to do the meditation thing and instead focused all her thoughts on the sky above her and the gentle breeze stirring the air. She'd never been any good at meditation, her brain just wouldn't stop, and tonight was no exception. Every random noise distracted her and sparked new streams of pointless thoughts. And when a car turned down her street, bright headlights ruining her atmosphere, she gave up the attempt entirely. Sitting up, Ty squinted into the headlights, shielding her eyes and wondering who could possibly be driving through her neighborhood at this time of night. As the car got closer and the purr of the engine more distinctive, a ludicrous idea popped into her head. It didn't help that as the car putted closer, she caught the sound of what could only be a classic rock guitar solo. When the car stopped and Dean stepped out, she decided that she was dreaming.

"Hey." Dean greeted her, looking surprised to see her sitting outside her house a three in the morning.

"Dean? What are you doing here?" Ty asked, sliding off her car and approaching him.

She stopped a few feet short of him when she took in his expression, the look in his eyes, the way he was holding on to the car door, and the smell that permeated him. It wasn't gas (thankfully), but it was unmistakably the smell of too much alcohol.

"Dean…" Ty began, wondering what the hell he was thinking getting behind the wheel in his condition.

"Sam had another vision." Dean interrupted.

To his credit, his words were not slurred in the slightest and he seemed fairly steady on his feet, but Ty felt something in Dean's demeanor that said he was shaken. Plus, being drunk off his ass seemed to make his tongue a little looser because he continued without prompting.

"Apparently, not only am I going to get you killed, but I'm also going to fuck over Sammy because I'll be too busy moping to do my job and protect him from the damn demon." Dean's hand was so tightly clenched on top of the door that Ty wondered which would break first, his hand or the car, "And I tried to call Dad, but of course he won't freaking answer his phone! Seriously, why the hell does he even have the damn thing?"

Ty held up her hands and made a calming gesture, "Dean, calm down. That's not going to happen, remember? We're going to stop it."

She had to believe that because she was firmly in denial about the possibility that they wouldn't or couldn't. Thinking about her own death was just not something she was able to handle so she'd locked it away into a part of her brain where she could avoid the issue and continue functioning. So, comforting Dean was not something she was really all too qualified for, but she had to do something.

Dean took a few steps closer to her, finally letting go of the car. He didn't sway or stumble. Ty would lay money on the fact that he could still walk a perfectly straight line. But she still wasn't all too sure about his judgment or his ability to think clearly. So, when his hand reached out to brush hair out of her face, she didn't move, unsure what, if anything, the gesture meant.

"I'm not losing anyone else. Not to that thing." Dean said, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"Of course you're not. You're stuck with me." Ty replied, trying to grin and lighten the mood.

The grin died on her face though when Dean's own features remained serious. His hand still lingered, barely touching her cheek, making her want to either step back or step closer.

"Why are you doing this?" Dean asked, his eyes searching hers, but without any of the suspicion that question had been accompanied with when he'd asked her before.

"I told you." Ty shrugged, "I feel like it's what I'm meant to do."

"You'll get hurt." Dean warned, his words carrying an absolute certainty that Ty was sure came from personal experience.

"I don't care." Ty answered, feeling brave, "It's a risk I'm willing to take."

"Damn it." Dean swore, finally dropping his hand back to his side and some of the levity of the situation fell with it, "I always like the crazy ones."

"So…you _do_ like me." Ty said slowly, trying to make it a statement, but still ending up with enough uncertainty to make Dean look at her with a brief grin.

"Do we need to make out again?" he asked.

Ty couldn't stop her eyes from rolling. She wasn't sure if it was at him or at the part of herself that responded 'yes, please,' but either way. A weak, somewhat self-deprecatory chuckle escaped her as she thought about how it took either an argument or late nights and booze to bring out Dean's affection for her. There had to be something wrong with that equation.

"Hey, want to go for a drive?" Dean asked, backing towards the car again.

"Dean, I don't think you should be driving." Ty said immediately.

The last thing any of them needed right now was for Dean to get in an accident.

"I'm fine. Come on. Let's go somewhere." Dean continued.

"Only if I drive." Ty countered, holding her hand out for the keys.

Dean glanced at her hand like it was a foreign artifact, "Yeah, right. Like I'm letting you drive my car."

"Like I'm letting you drive drunk." Ty replied in the same tone.

"How you going to stop me?" Dean asked mischievously, pulling his keys out of his pocket and dangling them above Ty's hand.

Ty wondered at what point Dean had gone from a moody drunk to a happy and slightly annoying drunk as she made a grab for the keys and had them yanked out of her reach.

"Dean." Ty protested, making another failed attempt at the keys, "Not funny, okay? Hand 'em over."

"So not going to happen." Dean replied smugly.

"Don't make me call Sam." Ty threatened.

"What's he gonna do?" Dean asked, rolling his eyes, "Whine at me?"

"Dean, I swear to God…" Ty exclaimed as she leapt forward to try and take the keys while Dean was complaining about Sam, but yet again found that he was too quick for her even while inebriated.

Ty cried out in surprise when Dean's arm circled her waist and pulled her close to him.

"You might be able to convince me to sleep it off." Dean offered with raised eyebrows, his voice lowering.

Ty paused, forcing down the lump that formed in her throat and stomping on any traitorous thoughts before carefully replying, "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Really?" Dean asked, his head dipping down so that his breath warmed her ear, "And deciding to be a hunter was a good idea? Or how about joining me and Sam, even after the vision? What about coming home with me in the first place? How many of those were good?"

Ty shivered. She couldn't say that Dean didn't have a point. Given her track record, she really didn't have too much recourse to long-run type of thinking. Still, she wasn't an idiot and she knew that this wasn't going to end in fairytale romance. It would be another weird "should've been a one-nighter" type of deals after which she would feel like shit and things between them would be even more awkward. She didn't want that. She wanted things to be cool between her and both brothers. She wanted them to be a team, really.

'_Dean, how many hearts have you broken?_' she wondered.

"Sorry, pretty boy. I'm not that kind of girl." she finally answered, placing a firm hand on his chest and pushing him away.

Dean blinked in surprise and confusion. Ty smiled for a second when she thought that maybe Dean wasn't used to being turned down. He probably especially hadn't expected a rejection after she'd already slept with him once. Ty congratulated herself on staying unpredictable.

"Okay…" Dean said, looking at her like he was expecting an explanation.

"What? You want an explanation?" Ty asked, folding her arms across her chest.

"Well, yeah." Dean nodded.

"Okay." Ty held out her hand again, "Give me the keys and I'll tell you."

"Damn you're persistent." Dean grumbled. He reluctantly tossed her the keys, "You can have them, but you can't drive my car. I'll sleep in the backseat and get Sam in the morning."

Ty nodded, accepting that arrangement. She palmed the keys in her hand, contemplating going back on her end of the deal and making a break for the house. She had a feeling though that Dean would never let her get away with that. She had to say something.

"Well Dean," she finally said, speaking slowly so that she could carefully pick and choose her words. She wanted to say something that would satisfy her obligation without saying too much, "there's a reason why you get the girls, but Sam gets girlfriends."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dean demanded.

Ty didn't reply but turned and headed back towards the house.

"Hey, what are you trying to say?" Dean called after her, "What does Sam have to do with anything?"

With a sigh, Ty turned around and walked backwards the remaining feet to the door, "I'm saying that in the long run, nice guys don't always finish last."

Dean paused, thinking about that, but quickly gave up and demanded, "What?"

Ty just shook her head and went inside. She still couldn't sleep, especially not with Dean sitting outside her house. He was liable to break in and demand a better explanation. So, she picked up a book and tried to make time pass more quickly by reading.

She must have fallen asleep or something despite her feeling that she would never be able to because the next thing she knew her alarm was going off. Groaning, she pushed her book off her chest, rolled over and turned it off. She was already dressed so she got up, fixed her hair and started hauling her stuff outside. She wondered where she was going to put her suitcase since the Impala seemed pretty filled with the boys' stuff already, but she figured they'd make it work somehow. That was probably the least of her worries at this point.

She was grateful that both her parents had already had to leave for work. She didn't want to have to sidestep any more awkward questioning. She already had plenty of awkwardness with Dean around to deal with. Speaking of Dean, she noticed as she reached the car that he was sound asleep, sprawled across the backseat with a pile of clothes stuffed under his head as a pillow. She smiled mercilessly and knocked loudly on the window. He jumped, his hands flying in front of his face defensively before he spotted her outside the window and groaned.

"What?" he yelled, wincing at his own volume.

Ty remembered the splitting headache she'd had a couple days before and didn't envy him his current state. Still, that didn't mean she was going to be too nice to him about it. She opened the door, plastering a smile on her face, "Morning!"

Dean pulled a shirt over his face and mumbled through the material something suspiciously like, "Son of a bitch."

"Aw, what's the matter, Dean? Hung over?" Ty asked sweetly.

"Go away." Dean muttered, pulling a second piece of clothing on top of the first to block out the light more completely.

"No way! It's road trip time. Come on, we've got to go get Sam and you don't want me to drive so that means you have to wake up." Ty said, punctuating her statement by slapping Dean's shoes.

Dean rolled over so that he was facing into the seat and brought up his hands to cover his ears. Ty felt her faux-peppy grin slip into one of genuine amusement as treacherous thoughts of how cute Dean was infected her brain. She grimaced at the relation that the word cute was still in her vocabulary and chose to ignore the occurrence and instead torture Dean some more.

"Dean, if you don't get up soon I'll have to resort to less pleasant ways of making you wake up." Ty warned.

Dean remained unresponsive.

"Dude, I'm not kidding." Ty insisted.

Still no indication that he had even heard her although Ty was sure he had and was just ignoring her in the hopes that she would go away. Ty sighed and told herself that this was his own fault and not in any way for her own amusement before she cautiously leaned over Dean's sleeping form. She glanced up at his face to see if he knew what was coming and when she found that he was still buried under laundry, she launched her attack. Fingers found unsuspecting sides along the rib cage and tickled. Dean jumped in surprise, whirling towards Ty and snatching at her hands so quickly that she was actually caught off guard. Apparently Dean hung-over was still about as quick as Dean drunk.

Doing his best to glare at her through squinting eyes, Dean growled, "Not cool."

Ty tugged at Dean's hold, trying to pull her hands back, but his grip remained tight around her wrists, "I warned you."

"Still not cool. In fact, that is never cool. Ever."

Ty rolled her eyes, "Just 'cause you're ticklish."

"I am not." Dean pouted, "I just wasn't expecting that."

"Right." Ty agreed sarcastically.

Since Dean was letting go, she used the leverage to pull him up into a sitting position and then slowly out of the car and to his feet. He groaned again as he emerged into direct sunlight, finally releasing her wrists in order to shield his eyes.

"Sunglasses." he grunted.

"I'll find them." Ty said, pushing him out of the way and digging through the car.

She figured it would be faster for her to get them for him then letting him fumble around half-blind. It only took her a few minutes to locate the glasses and emerge with them. She pressed them into Dean's hands. He grunted something else that sounded like an expression of gratitude as he put them on.

"Are you sure you can drive?" Ty asked, pulling the keys out of her pocket.

Dean shook his head, surprising her, "Need coffee."

"Coffee?" Ty asked.

"Hot drink. Brown color." Dean nodded.

"Smells and tastes bad." Ty added, making a face.

"Do you have any, yes or no?"

"Maybe. Hang on." Ty said, going back inside.

She had never cared for coffee, but her parents usually made a pot every morning. She knew because the smell lingered in the kitchen for hours, making her not want to enter until it had dissipated. Lucky for Dean, today was no different. There was still half a pot sitting on the counter in the coffeemaker. Ty dug through the cupboards until she found two mugs that no one ever used and filled them both. She frowned as she looked at them when she realized that she didn't know how Dean or Sam liked their coffee.

"Don't put anything in it." Dean said from behind her, making her jump and nearly knock both mugs over.

"Holy shit, Dean! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Ty snapped.

Dean shrugged, unconcerned, "You were taking too long."

He reached past her and grabbed the larger mug, downing probably half of it in one long gulp. He was still wearing his sunglasses inside, a clear indication that he still felt like crap, but the contented sigh he made after drinking that first swallow must have meant that coffee was making everything better.

Ty decided to make herself a cup of tea quickly since Dean was enjoying his coffee at the moment and would probably want a refill before they left. Like her British grandmother, Ty was partial to a hot cup of tea every once in awhile. It was way better than coffee anyway.

"What kind of cup is this?" Dean demands just as Ty finished heating her water in the microwave.

Ty glanced over her shoulder at Dean inspecting the now empty coffee cup. It was red and said 'Handsome Devil' on the side. She couldn't even remember where it came from so she just shrugged, "The kind that holds coffee. You can take it with you if you want. The other one's for Sam."

Ty steeped her tea and while she waited for the flavor to disperse through the water, she mixed in a little honey. Her own cup read 'Genius' on the side. She'd claimed it when it had appeared in the cupboards one Christmas. Probably a gift from some distant relation. Taking a sip of her tea, she glanced at the remaining mug that had therefore become Sam's. It was also red, but the print on the side proudly proclaimed, 'Diva.' She snickered into her cup as she thought about Sam's reaction to that and wondered if Dean realized which mug he was sticking his brother with.

"Ready?" she asked as Dean refilled.

Dean took another sip and reached out to turn the Sam's mug so that he could read it. He laughed and stirred in some sugar and creamer before nodding. He handed Sam's mug to Ty to carry and headed back out to the car. Ty followed, holding the coffee as far from her nose as she could without risking spilling it. She said goodbye to each of her cats. Something that made Dean mutter something about women and cats and wait entirely too impatiently for her to finish. He also grumped about the weight of her luggage as he loaded it into the trunk, but Ty just ignored him because she knew that, for a girl, she really traveled light. All she had with her was one suitcase and her backpack.

The whole way to the motel, Ty tried not to worry that Dean would crash the car on account of his hang-over and the miniscule amount of sleep he'd had. She probably shouldn't have worried. Dean seemed as used to operating on little sleep as she was, but she couldn't help the fact that every time they pulled up behind another car she found herself pressing onto the floor on the passenger side as if she could control the brakes by doing so.

Sam was ready to roll when they arrived and frankly a little annoyed that Dean had taken off on him in the middle of the night. He scowled at the cup when Ty handed it to him, causing Dean to smile happily, but accepted it anyway. He downed the contents about as fast as Dean had and quickly handed the cup back to Ty just as Dean was throwing the keys at him.

"Think fast." he said as the keys pegged Sam in the chest and fell to the ground. Dean shook his head disappointedly as Sam bent to pick them up, "Ah, come on, Sammy."

"Shut up." Sam growled.

"Shotgun!" Ty chimed as Sam threw his stuff in the trunk and headed for the driver's seat.

"You can't call shotgun on my car. I have automatic shotgun." Dean protested.

"Can and did." Ty replied smugly as she opened the passenger door to reclaim her seat, "Besides, you're just going to sleep anyway."

"True." Dean nodded, "I guess you can have it then. 'Cause I'm nice like that."

Ty rolled her eyes as Sam started the car, "Go to sleep already so Sam and I can talk about you."

"Yeah, you both love me." Dean muttered, stretching out in the backseat into much the same position as he had been in when Ty woke him up that morning. He was snoring by the time they hit the freeway that would lead them out of town.

Ty glanced back at Dean to make sure he was asleep before digging in her backpack and pulling out her CD player and a cassette adapter. She slipped the adapter tape into the tape deck and hooked it up to her player before turning to Sam, "What do you want to listen to Sam?" she asked.

Sam looked at her with surprise evident on his face. After a moment he laughed softly and explained, "Sorry. I don't know if anyone's ever asked me that before."

"Well, it's decision time now, Sammy. What'll it be?" Ty asked with a smile as she opened up her large CD case and began flipping through it.

Sam let her use of the childish nickname slide as he glanced away from the road for a second to look at the CDs, "What do you have?"

"Name a kind of music and I've probably got something. Unless it's rap. Say rap and I'll push you out of the car." she warned.

"Got any rock more recent than Dean's mullet hits?"

"Sure do." Ty nodded, "Who do you like? Disturbed, Tool, Slipknot, System of a Down, Offspring, Greenday, Mudvayne, Godsmack? I've got a ton of that."

"I haven't heard Greenday since…" Sam began with a smile that soon disappeared, retreating before an expression of pain and sadness.

Ty sensed that maybe she should steer this away from anything that would bring up painful memories, "How about Weezer? You like them?"

Sam shrugged, so Ty went ahead and extricated the blue CD from its spot and slipped it in the player. She personally liked the CD because the same cute guy that she'd had a crush on who'd played Stairway to Heaven for her had been big on Weezer's early stuff and had also played some of their songs for her. She couldn't listen to 'Say It Ain't So' without a nostalgic smile creeping onto her face. Plus, they were slightly less gloom and doom than some of her other options so maybe the more upbeat music would lighten Sam's mood.

With the volume down low enough that it wouldn't disturb Dean, Ty set her CD player in her lap to do its thing and turned her attention more fully to the younger Winchester brother. She liked Sam, he was a nice guy. He could easily have been a guy in one of her classes at school if it wasn't for the terrible past he had lived. Yet, it was that past that had her hooked on these guys. With some sort of morbid fascination, she waited through each bit of conversation for some snippet about what their lives had been like, what they'd seen and done. It wasn't something she was really doing consciously. Just something that she noticed when she sat down and thought about it. She wanted to _know_ what had happened to their mom, what had done it. It wasn't just self-preservation driving that desire, although that was a big part of it, it was also something else. Something about wanting to know the truth of the matter. Something that she suspected spoke about the type of person she was, that she had to figure this out, consequences be damned. Besides, even if she couldn't help anyone else, maybe she could help these boys. If she could do that, she felt like she could live the rest of her life happily (well, she thought that, but at the same time she knew that wasn't true). Yet she still didn't know enough about everything involved and she was not very skilled when it came to communication thereby making it difficult for her to broach the subject.

"Sam?" she asked despite herself.

"Yeah?" Sam asked, eyes fixed on the road.

Ty looked out the window at the passing city. It was morning and everything was just starting to get going again. It was like watching a giant wake from hibernation, "You trust me, right?"

"Sure." he nodded.

"So, I can ask you stuff, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

Ty thought about asking him about the demon, his visions, his family, but said, "Just wondering."

Glancing back at Dean again and reassured that her conversation had gone unnoticed, she settled into her seat, leaning against the door. As a baby, her parents had taken her for car rides to put her to sleep and she still found driving sleep-inducing. Even though she hadn't been able to sleep all night, the short amount of time she'd spent in the car was making her eyelids feel heavy.

"Hey, do you care if I take a nap for a bit?" she asked, her voice already becoming a sleepy mumble.

"Of course not. Go for it." Sam said, glancing at her and giving her a reassuring smile.

"Wake me up if Dean's still asleep and you want someone else to drive." Ty instructed, angling her legs so that she could stretch them out a little.

"I will."

Ty yawned and let her eyes slide closed. Weezer was serenading her with a song about things coming full circle after a relationship ended. The car was purring along in harmony, the hum of the engine mixing with Dean's light snores. She felt like she was sinking into the leather upholstery and despite the rapidly increasing separation from all familiarity, she felt safe.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: So, I say Tom Petty last week and it was one of the most awesome concerts I have ever been to. Stevie Nicks was a special guest and I'd forgotten until then just how much she rocks! So, in honor of Stevie, this chapter's musical selection is from her. There's a lot of banter in this chapter, but also a few hints at some foreshadowing, so bonus points to anyone who can guess what I'm hinting at.

Chapter Twelve: Highway-Woman

_Alas he was the highwayman  
The one that comes and goes  
And only the highway-woman  
Keeps up with the likes of those  
And she in all her magic  
With hands as quick as light  
Took him to be a challenge  
And went into the night  
And he in all his glory  
Was far ahead of her  
But she was never sorry  
For wishes that would burn  
Enter competition  
She chases beneath the moon  
Her horse is like a dragonfly  
She is just a fool  
And she wonders is this real  
Or does she just want to be Queen  
And he fights the way he feels  
Is this the end of the dream  
And then he sees her coming  
Heartbeats on the wind  
Considers slowing down  
But then... he could never win  
And she... out in the distance  
Sees him against the sky  
A pale and violent rider  
A dream begun in wine  
And she wonders is this real  
Or does she just want to be Queen  
And he fights the way he feels  
Is this the end of the dream  
A dream as the thunder wakes her  
And her highwayman disappears  
On a life already lived before  
In eyes welled with tears  
Today and still today they ride  
Will they ever win  
He the glory...  
She the love...  
Still they try again  
He the glory...  
She the love...  
Still they try again  
He the glory...  
She the love...  
And still they... try... again_

Ty gasped in surprise and banged her head against the window when she was startled from her sleep by someone shaking her. Her eyes flew open and it took her a second to recognize Sam's apologetic smile.

"Sorry." he said.

"'s okay." she mumbled in reply, sitting up and rubbing the spot where her head made contact with the glass.

"I was wondering if maybe you could drive for awhile." Sam said, "Watching you guys is making me tired."

"Sure." Ty shrugged.

She stretched as much as the confines of the car would allow, a yawn escaping her lips as she did so. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Dean was still sprawled across the backseat, dead asleep. The sunglasses had gone askew on his face and Ty smiled a little to herself at the picture he presented.

'_Sorry, Dean, but if the things that go bump in the night could only see you now. You don't exactly strike fear into the hearts of baddies at the moment_.' Ty mused.

Sam pulled over on the side of the road and Ty opened her door to switch spots with him. The second she did so she realized that she hadn't given enough thought to the temperature change. Compared to the warm and toasty valley where she lived, wherever they were currently had to be twenty degrees cooler. Ty shivered and zipped up her jacket as she nearly ran around the car to the driver's side. Maybe she should have pulled out one of her warmer outfits instead of packing them.

'_Too late now_.' Ty reminded herself as she quickly pulled the door closed and let the warmth inside the car soothe her after the shock of the cold outside.

"I stopped for gas about an hour ago and got some snacks." Sam informed her, digging around and producing a bag of chips.

"You stopped?" Ty asked, a little surprised that she didn't wake up.

"You guys were out cold." Sam said with an amused smile, "I figured I'd just let you sleep and grab a few things."

Ty slowly pulled the Impala back out onto the road, letting herself adjust to the feeling of the new vehicle. It was bigger than her car and she had to get used to the feeling of taking up more of the road, but the car was responsive and it purred like a kitten. It was nice not to have to ignore disturbing sounds from the engine for a change. Obviously, someone (and she knew it was Dean) had taken care of this car.

"So, pick your poison." Sam offered, holding out his bag of gas station delights.

Ty perused her options quickly and snagged the Cheetohs. Her stomach growled in anticipation, reminding her that she'd skipped breakfast yet again.

"You get anything to drink, Sam?" Ty asked as she carefully ripped open the Cheetohs, trying to drive and not to spill at the same time.

"I grabbed a six-pack of soda and some water." Sam confirmed.

"Do me a favor and grab me a water?" Ty asked.

"Sure."

Sam fished out some water and handed it to her after unscrewing the cap. Ty appreciated the gesture, but didn't comment on it. She kept her attention on the junk food she was rapidly consuming and the virtually empty stretch of road ahead of her. It didn't take long before the bag of Cheetohs was empty and the water bottle drained of its contents.

"Want a soda or something?" Sam asked, noticing that Ty had rapidly downed the liquid.

"I don't drink soda." Ty shook her head.

"You don't drink soda." Sam repeated as if he wasn't sure he'd heard right, "But you eat Cheetohs?"

"Don't point out my hypocrisy. It makes me grumpy."

Sam just grinned and took her trash from her. They lapsed into silence again for awhile, but Ty didn't mind. She was actually really enjoying driving the Chevy. Plus, she was already looking forward to Dean's reaction when he woke up and found her driving his car. She imagined the scenario in her head, plotting the great remarks that she would say. That was amusing for about ten minutes, but then her mind wandered back to her conversation with Dean the night before.

"Hey, Sam?" Ty asked, glancing over at him and finding him still awake and staring absently out the window.

"Hmm?"

"Dean said you had another vision."

Now he was looking at her, pausing before saying anything and watching her carefully for any indication of her reason for bringing it up, "Yeah."

"These visions, how far off are they usually?" Ty asked. She could feel Sam looking at her, but kept her own eyes firmly on the road. She didn't want to give away any more signs of weakness than she already had.

"Not far, usually." Sam said. He paused again, but then continued, "But these seem different somehow. I don't know."

"So, you don't think it's waiting for us in Colorado or anything, right?" Ty revealed her apprehension, making her voice sound like she didn't care, but knowing that she wasn't fooling anyone. Creepy carnies were one thing, an extremely powerful demon was another.

"No." Sam said, "It's not there. We would know if…"

"Thanks." Ty interrupted him.

She didn't really care if he had reasons for what he said. She didn't even care if he was lying to her. It helped just to hear him answer negatively.

Now the silence made Ty want to turn the radio up and pretend that she couldn't feel Sam's empathy pouring off him. She shifted in her seat and sped up a little without noticing.

"You know we'll protect you, right?" Sam refused to allow her to let the issue go, "We're not going to let it have you."

"So Dean keeps telling me." Ty replied.

"It's true." Sam agreed, "Besides, Dean's definitely not going to let anything happen to you."

That got Ty's attention. She finally turned her head to look at Sam. He looked amused again, his eyes sparkling with that same glint of mischief that her own little brother would get when he was making fun of her.

"Why's that?" Ty pressed despite herself.

Sam rolled his eyes, "Well, he obviously likes you."

"Dean likes everything breathing, human, and female."

"Yeah, but he _likes_ you."

"Yeah and that's why he ignores me except when he's drunk." Ty snorted, only realizing she'd said that out loud when Sam responded.

"That's just because he's convinced himself that people like us can't make lasting connections." Sam explained.

"What?" Ty asked, genuinely interested in an explanation for Dean's behavior beyond him just being a jerk. She'd started to think that maybe he thought of her as a given, something that she couldn't stand. She'd dumped her boyfriend for that very same reason and she would not take it again. If someone wanted her, they could damn well work for her.

"We talked about this once. He thought it was weird that I tried to have lasting friends because I couldn't tell them what we did and I'd hardly ever see them. He's only ever had me and Dad. He thinks it's easier that way. You don't lie to people and you don't have to constantly leave people you care about. I think he's afraid of losing you so he's trying to keep you at a distance." Sam commented casually as if everything he was saying were obvious, "And I know he likes you because he won't let me talk about it."

"He would so kill you if he heard you just now." Ty breathed, glancing back to make sure he was still asleep.

"I know." Sam said, looking pretty pleased with himself.

Ty laughed at that, "Sammy, you're awesome."

"Thanks. But it's Sam. Sammy's a little kid or a pet dog."

"Whatever you say, Sammy." Ty teased.

"Come on, seriously." Sam complained, "You can't be older than me and you have to be like a foot shorter. You can't play the 'little' card."

"Not a foot." Ty protested just as it apparently occurred to Sam that he didn't know how old she was.

"Hey, how old are you?"

"Twenty. You?" Ty answered.

"Serious?" Sam looked surprised, "But Dean met you at a bar."

Ty just shrugged.

"I just thought you were older." Sam admitted, "I think Dean does, too."

"Is it a big deal?" Ty asked, "How old are you guys? You can't be that much older than me."

"I'm twenty-three. Dean's turning twenty-seven."

"Oh. Okay." Ty said, unconcerned.

"So that doesn't bother you?" Sam asked.

"Should it?" Ty wondered, "It's not like he's old."

"He's still a cradle-robber." Sam accused.

"Meh." Ty shrugged again.

Sam made an amused and somewhat skeptical noise by exhaling air. Ty almost didn't catch it, but the sound made her glare at him suspiciously. The look on his face convinced her that she was right to glare, "You're just as bad as he is."

Ty felt her face redden a little, probably ruining her death glare, but she tried to look her most furious and intimidating anyway, "I think you don't want to go there, Sam."

Sam smiled brightly, unperturbed. Ty half-suspected that he was going to burst into a round of 'Ty and Dean, sitting in a tree' and swore to herself that if he did, she was going to punch him in the face. Lucky for Ty's fist and Sam's face, Sam just continued grinning and relaxed back into his seat. Ty didn't say anything else and was finally rewarded for her silence by Sam's slumber. Now that both boys were asleep, she allowed herself to really relax and settle in for the drive. She reached over and extricated her CD player and switched out the CD. Blue Oyster Cult's greatest hits wailed softly out of the speakers. It felt almost sacrilegious to listen to rock music at such a low volume, but she didn't want to wake the boys up.

Time and miles passed faster than she would have expected. Ty switched her CDs out every half hour or so until it started to rain. The thick drops of water seemed to hit the windshield with increasing fury. Ty floundered for a few minutes until she figured out the windshield wipers and got the fog lights on. Ty was distinctly aware that like most people from Arizona, she wasn't the best driver in the rain, but she was determined not to let on that she fit the stereotype. Neither Sam nor Dean needed to know about that accident she'd had the year before during monsoon season when she'd lost track of the side of the road in all the water and had hit a curb. In fact, no one ever needed to know about that. It never even happened. To make herself feel better, Ty prematurely ended the Van Halen song she was listening to and exchanged it for Garbage. Listening to 'I'm Only Happy When It Rains' while it was actually raining always made her feel a little better. Easing the volume up a little louder and making sure that the boys didn't notice, Ty did her best not to let the decreased visibility bother her. After a little bit, she started to get used to the water pouring across the windshield and her mind wandered back to the music that was keeping her entertained.

'_I wonder how often chick vocals have been in this car._' Ty thought, '_I wonder how often there's been a chick driving._'

As if her very thoughts had disturbed him, Dean stirred in the backseat with a groan. Ty glanced back over her shoulder at him, surprised he hadn't woken up sooner. Glancing at her watch she saw that he'd been asleep for a good eight hours since they'd left.

"What the hell is that chick music?" Dean demanded sleepily.

"That is Garbage and you know they rock." Ty replied quietly, trying not to wake up Sam.

Dean sat up and his sunglasses fell off his face. He blinked a few times in surprise, but Ty could see he was staring at her in the rearview mirror. Finally, he seemed to remember how to speak, "What the hell is a chick doing driving my car?"

"Hauling your sleepy ass to Colorado, that's what." Ty retorted.

"Pull over." Dean ordered.

"Why?"

"Do it." Dean insisted instead of answering the question.

"No way." Ty refused, "I like driving this baby."

"That's because she's the perfect vehicle." Dean answered quickly as if he was stating the obvious, "But you have no idea what this car and I have been through. I've known you, what, a few days? You're not driving my car."

"So you trust me to come with you and fight the forces of evil, but you don't trust me to drive your car?"

"Exactly." Dean nodded.

"You know, I've been driving for awhile now and the car's still in one piece." Ty pointed out.

"Damn it, woman, would you just stop the freaking car!" Dean snapped.

Sam jumped at the sound of Dean yelling, startled out of his sleep. Ty smiled at him apologetically and slowed the car before pulling it over onto the shoulder.

"Alright, alright. You didn't have to wake Sam up." she grumbled.

Sam glanced between the two of them, decided that they were fighting again and that the world wasn't ending and relaxed. He watched as his brother and Ty braved the freezing rain to switch seats and wondered yet again exactly where the Impala fell on his brother's list of priorities. Half the time he wondered if it came down to the Impala or himself, if Dean wouldn't choose the car.

By the time Ty pulled the door closed after her, her teeth were chattering and the skin on her arms sported a collection of goose bumps despite the fact that she was wearing a jacket. She rubbed the sleeves of her nearly useless covering and glared at Dean, "You're overreacting."

Dean didn't reply, but was busy running his hands over the steering wheel as if soothing the car, his eyes roving over the interior as if to make sure it was all still there.

"Dean," Ty snapped to get his attention, "the freaking car is fine!"

"Hey, it wasn't too long ago you were trying to crash her, okay?" Dean replied testily.

"I was possessed!" Ty protested.

"Whatever." Dean moved the car back onto the road, swiftly ejecting Ty's cassette adapter, glancing at it curiously before tossing it in Sam's general direction. He stuck another tape in its place and sighed with relief when it played and Black Sabbath filled the car, "We have any food, Sammy?"

Sam wordlessly handed Dean what was left of the junk food from earlier before turning to Ty, "Are you cold?"

"Freaking freezing." Ty nodded, her teeth chattering slightly.

"I think I threw a jacket back there somewhere if you want it." he offered.

Ty immediately attacked the pile of crap on the floor until she found what could either have been a jacket for a person as tall as Sam or a tent for small children. She wrapped it around herself like a blanket and instantly felt better, "Sam, I love you."

Sam smiled and turned around again. Ty noticed that Dean was very quiet and was watching her closely.

"What?" she demanded.

"Nothing."

"Then, why were you staring at me?"

"I wasn't."

"Bullshit."

"Do you have to argue with me about everything?"

"Only when I'm right and you're wrong." Ty answered smugly.

"God, why me?"

"Whatever." Ty finally snapped, "I don't care. Just try to shut up for awhile so I can get some homework done."

"Homework?" Sam asked, "What class?"

"Oh, and college boy's ear prick right up." Dean sneered.

"Did I not say 'shut up,' Dean? I could have sworn I said it out loud." Ty growled. Her attitude changed in an instant as she turned to Sam, "Roman History. I've got to right a paper the Triumvirate."

"Oh, cool." Sam said.

"Yeah, not really." Ty said, letting Sam off the hook for not sharing her enthusiasm for ancient history, "But, I'm a dork so…"

With that she pulled her laptop out of her backpack and powered it on. Sam picked up their dad's journal and began leafing through it. Dean just scowled at the road like it had done something to him and he was silently plotting revenge.

Ty diligently typed up useless information for about twenty minutes before her mind began to wonder. So, when Sam straightened in his seat and called Dean, she was grateful for the distraction.

"Yeah?" Dean answered.

"I found the carnival thing in Dad's journal. Looks like Dad found something we missed. Every time this carnival has showed up, it stays in town for three days before it takes off and vanishes like it never existed. The three days that it's there, full moon." Sam reported, "Dad didn't have the pattern that Ty figured out, but he did notice that with all the victims, the way their bodies are mutilated seems kind of…sacrificial."

"So, Dad thinks that maybe these carnies have a pet werewolf or something?"

"He doesn't say. But, yeah, maybe. It would make sense. Ty, didn't one of your articles say something about them thinking it was a wolf attack even though there weren't any wolves around?"

"Yeah." Ty nodded.

"Hope we still have plenty of silver bullets." Sam said.

"Hey, don't be so sure about this thing yet, Sammy. We still don't know it's not another clown." Dean said, a wicked grin appearing on his face.

"Dude, shut up." Sam said, frowning, "That's not funny."

"Clown?" Ty asked, almost shuddering at merely having to speak the word.

One of Ty's greatest fears had always been clowns. They just weren't right! So, of course her dad had thought that making her watch _It_ would somehow help. Well, if by help he meant make her ten times worse, then he'd been right. Plus, growing up Ty had been in a 4-H club which meant going to the state and county fairs. She'd barely been able to stand being within thirty feet of a clown there and had purposefully taken exceptionally long routes around the heavily trafficked areas to avoid running into one. When the fair designers had thought it would be a good idea one year to make the trash can lids in the shape of clown heads so that you had to put your hand in their mouth to throw your trash away, she'd ended up with her pockets filled with garbage. No, clowns were not her friend.

"Yeah, Sammy and I had a job a few months ago with a killer clown." Dean explained. He cupped one hand over his mouth as if to whisper to her, "He's afraid of them."

"Dude, you can't…" Sam began angrily.

"Who the hell isn't?" Ty interrupted.

"Oh, don't tell me you're afraid of clowns, too!" Dean exclaimed.

"Hey, clowns are freaking scary! If this thing is a clown, I'm out. Damn it! Freaking clowns!" Ty swore, struggling desperately to keep images of killer clowns lying in wait for her out of her thoughts.

"So, demons fine, clowns you're out?" Dean asked, glancing back at her as if to see if she was actually serious.

"Totally." Ty nodded, "But you shoot it in the face for me."

Dean laughed, "I can't believe you two are both afraid of Ronald McDonald."

"Dean, you're a jerk." Sam snapped.

"Not my fault they're evil." Ty added.

"Man, we're doomed if the bad guys ever figure out that all they have to do to get rid of you two is throw a clown at you." Dean teased.

"Hey, I killed the last one, didn't I?"

"Yeah, just in time, too. I swear you were about to have a heart attack. You should have seen your face."

"This from the guy who nearly wet his pants the last time we were on a plane."

Dean's grin instantly melted, "Dude, we were crashing!"

"Yeah, what about during take-off?" Sam challenged.

"Wait a minute. Are you afraid to fly?" Ty asked, her eyes lighting up, '_God, I love payback_.'

"I'm not _afraid_." Dean protested.

But at the same time, Sam nodded with a grin, "Yeah, he is."

"Clowns are way scarier than planes, Dean." Ty said, her homework forgotten in the face of teaming up with Sam against Dean.

"Like hell." Dean spat, "Clowns didn't take out the Twin Towers. Really, how many people you think die by clown a year?"

"I think we hit a nerve." Ty spoke conspiratorially to Sam.

"Definitely." Sam nodded.

"You two want to walk the rest of the way?" Dean snapped.

"Nah, we'll fly." Ty immediately replied.

Dean's eyes narrowed and he glared at her for a second before the road required his attention again. His hands on the steering wheel tightened and Ty guessed he was probably imagining wringing her neck. She exchanged silent high fives with Sam.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Here's some more Tom Petty for you kids. I believe we all know the song. This chapter is a little longer, but I finally got our favorite trio to the scene of the crime, so three cheers for that. I also think there's some good plot stuff going on in this chapter, but I could be wrong. Let me know what you think. This chapter made need some revising, 'cause I'm not all too sure I got everything to come across like I wanted it to. Please review.

Chapter Thirteen: We Got Somethin'

_We got somethin' we both know it  
We don't talk too much about it  
Yeah it ain't no real big secret all the same  
Somehow we get around it  
Listen it don't really matter to me baby  
You believe what you want to believe  
You see you don't have to live like a refugee  
Somewhere, somehow somebody  
Must have kicked you around some  
Tell me why you wanna lay there  
And revel in your abandon  
Listen it don't make no difference to me baby  
Everybody's had to fight to be free  
You see you don't have to live like a refugee  
Now baby you don't have to live like a refugee  
Baby we ain't the first  
I'm sure a lot of other lover's been burned  
Right now this seems real to you  
But it's one of those things  
You gotta feel to be true  
Somewhere, somehow somebody  
Must have kicked you around some  
Who knows, maybe you were kidnapped  
Tied up, taken away and held for ransom  
It don't really matter to me  
Everybody's had to fight to be free  
You see you don't have to live like a refugee  
I said you don't have to live like a refugee_

Ty returned her focus to her homework for as long as humanely possible, but soon found herself starting awake from sleep every other minute. It just wasn't possible to focus on homework while being lulled to sleep by the hum of an engine and power ballads of the eighties after getting next to no sleep the night before. So, rather than risk falling asleep and dropping her laptop, she turned it off and allowed herself to catch some shut-eye. And the next thing she knew, Sam was shaking her awake again, telling her that they were there.

Ty sat up, blinking sleepily. It was dark outside, seeing as it was a good fifteen hour drive no matter how heavy Dean's foot was on the gas. Red neon lights were glaring at her, informing her that the "there" Sam had mentioned was in front of the One Eyed Jack, some sort of local tavern. Ty's initial reaction was disappointment. Despite the fact that she'd been sleeping, she was still kind of wiped out after spending a whole day in the car. She'd been hoping for a hot shower and a warm bed. Not a bar. But, on second thought, Dean had been content to eat junk food rather than stop anywhere for a real meal and she was kind of starving.

"What are we doing here?" Ty asked anyway, because of all the places to go in Greeley, Colorado (although she couldn't imagine that there were too many), she couldn't see why anyone would pick this place.

"Getting some money for a motel." Dean answered, climbing out of the car and taking a moment to stretch his legs.

Ty scrambled to follow and instantly regretted it. Not only was she stiff from the car, but it was even colder outside than it had been before. Sure, it wasn't pouring rain like when Dean had made her switch spots with him (and she was still mad about that), but it was night in northern Colorado in the middle of October. She was cold! She entertained the notion of burying herself in Sam's jacket again, but decided she didn't want to look like an eight-year-old wearing their parent's clothes. Besides, Sam might want it. So, she rubbed her arms again and jumped up and down a little to fight the chill that was already creeping into her limbs, "Hey, Dean, open the trunk."

"Why?" Dean asked, watching her actions with a raised eyebrow like maybe she was behaving a little crazier than normal.

"Because I'm cold and I want something warmer! Hurry up!" she barked quickly, feeling her teeth start to chatter again.

"Alright, I'm going." Dean grumbled, moving around to the trunk.

Ty noticed while she waited impatiently for Dean that Sam did reclaim his jacket and pull it on. Ty felt better for not having taken it and a little relieved that it wasn't just her who thought it was cold.

Dean opened the trunk and waved his arm towards the trunk, gesturing for her to proceed. The gesture was entirely too sarcastic for Ty's liking, so she ignored him and focused on digging out something warm to wear. She found her blue long-sleeved shirt that said "Perfect Angel" across the chest and a thin, hooded sweater and put them both on over the shirt she was already wearing. Dean snorted when he saw the shirt and Ty would have stuck her tongue out at him, but the way her teeth were chattering, decided that was a bad idea. The shirt had been given to her on her birthday as a joke. Whenever her friends had accused her of lying or doing anything else slightly shady, she used to adopt her most innocent expression and respond, "Me? I'm a perfect angel." Apparently, they hadn't bought it and neither did Dean.

Sliding her arms back into the sleeves of her jacket, Ty felt about ninety times better than before. After a moment her teeth stopped chattering and she was able to talk normally again as Dean slammed the trunk and the trio headed towards the bar.

"So, how exactly does stopping by a bar earn us money?" she asked.

It suddenly occurred to her that she had no idea how the financial aspect of this way of life worked. Did people give you bags of gold in appreciation after you saved their lives? Or was this done _Ghostbusters_ style; give me money or I'll let the ghosts loose in your hotel again. Somehow, neither seemed very likely.

"Well, mostly through various forms of hustling." Sam admitted, looking a little embarrassed.

"So, think you can earn your keep, sweetheart?" Dean asked as he pushed open the door.

Ty blinked at the influx of light and waited for the purple spots pulsating before her eyes to dissipate. Warmth, light, noise, and smoke all issued forth from the open bar door and blasted her in the face. When she was able to see properly again, Ty took in the scene. The bar was fairly busy. People of various ages congregated in the space. A TV above the bar displayed sports highlights while an old fashioned jukebox in the corner blasted out some oldies, but goodies. Two pool tables shared space on the left, while tables dotted the landscape to the right. Ty noticed a couple of dart games going, one of which seemed to be between two guys drunk enough to make her fear for her safety being in the same room with them and sharp, pointy objects.

"I know you suck at pool, but you got any skills of the bar variety?" Dean pressed.

Ty resented the reminder of her lack of skills on the pool table as well as the reminder of their initial meeting and how that had gone. She reminded herself about letting things roll off her like water, sticks and stones, and instead of picking another fight, took in her options in ways of bar games. Her eyes alighted upon a group of men sitting around a circular table playing cards.

"Yes, I do." she told Dean smugly, pushing past him and meandering towards the table.

"Hey, wait!" Dean protested, apparently not too thrilled about her taking point.

Ty ignored him once again and instead reviewed in her mind every TV and movie scene she'd ever seen with a girl hustling a bunch of guys at cards. She grimaced to herself for a second as she realized that she would have to play the ditsy blonde, a stereotype she despised.

"Hey, fellas!" she greeted the men at the table with her widest smile, "How's a girl get in on a game around here?"

The guys at the table all looked up at her, then down her, then back up at her face again. Ty tried not to let her smile turn into another grimace.

"Well, hello, sweetheart!" one of the guys nearest her finally replied. He kicked out the empty chair across from him, "Buy-in's twenty."

"Cool!" Ty said, reaching in her pocket for her wallet and plunking down in the seat. She glanced over her shoulder to find Sam and Dean both hovering. She figured she'd better do something to get them out of the picture. These guys wanted an innocent girl to prey on, not a girl with two big guys watching her and them like hawks, "My name's…" she paused to think of something appropriately ditsy, "Betsy. These are my…brothers, Sam and Dean. Hey, guys, why don't you go get me a drink?"

Dean looked ready to blow a fuse, but Sam pulled him away, "Sure thing, Bets."

Ty caught Sam whisper something to Dean as he dragged him towards the bar, but didn't have time to wonder what secrets they were sharing because she was still the center of attention at the table.

"You new to town, Betsy?" one of the other guys at the table asked.

"Sure am. Can't wait to meet everyone. This seems like a great town." Ty said, struggling hard not to choke on her own fake sweetness.

'_God, I almost want to punch myself. They'd better be buying this_.' she thought.

"Well, I'm Chad. This here's Bobby, Jake, Darren, Isaac and Joe." the guy who had kicked the chair out for her made introductions.

"Hi!" Ty said, her jaw starting to hurt already from the smiling. She decided to try and get this moving, "So, I love card games. What are we playing?"

"Only game that matter, honey, poker." Bobby said, taking Ty's proffered twenty and pushing a stack of chips towards her.

"Oh. That's a hard game! I always get confused. Is this the kind where I get two cards or five cards or what?" Ty asked, frowning like numbers were not her thing.

"You get two. White chips are worth ten, red are a hundred, blue are five hundred. Person with the most chips at the end gets the dough." Bobby explained slowly with a patronizing smile that made it damn near impossible for Ty to resist kicking him under the table.

"Okay! Let's play!" she said instead, hoping her annoyance wasn't creeping into her voice.

Bobby shuffled and the other guys all started chatting her up, but she barely paid attention, Dean was returning with her drink. He set it down in front of her and she took in the flowery label and the pinkish colored liquid of the wine cooler disapprovingly.

"That's funny, Dean. Where's my real drink?" she asked, struggling to stay in character.

"Sorry, _sis_." Dean drawled the term with such sarcasm that Ty was sure he was going to ruin everything, "You know how you are when you drink too much."

"Gee, well, I'm sure one of these fine young men will buy me a real drink, won't you guys?" Ty turned to the table.

Various affirmatives made her grin, faux-sweetly, up at Dean and him glare back at her. He looked about to snap at her, but instead he spun around and stalked across the room to the pool tables. Ty rolled her eyes dramatically for her audience, "Big brothers are such a drag, you know?"

In short order Ty was dealt cards and had a stiff drink placed in front of her. Dean seemed to have decided to try his own luck at pool hustling. Sam sat at a table somewhere approximately equidistant from both of them, keeping an eye on both their activities. Ty supposed he was making sure that neither of them got into trouble.

The first few hands, Ty lost spectacularly. Most of those losses were planned. She feigned confusion, asking stupid questions every now and then like whether aces were high or low and if there were wild cards in Texas Hold 'Em. The guys at the table seemed to be eating it up, throwing out helpful hints to her and being so patronizing she had to suppress her gag reflex. After over an hour and enough bar food to make her never want to eat again, Ty decided to make her move. The next hand she was dealt provided her the perfect opportunity, also, as she was dealt pocket queens.

Whether it was from an amazing stroke of luck or actual skill on Ty's part, her plan was working. She was rapidly moving the majority of the chips on the table into her stack. She could feel herself getting cocky and knew that was a bad thing, but couldn't seem to stop herself. Thankfully, Sam appeared at her side just as she was dealt another hand.

"Hey, Betsy, I think we'd better call it a night." Sam said.

"But, Sam," Ty whined in the most annoying voice she could imagine, "I'm in the middle of a game."

"Sorry, Betsy, but…uh…Dean's not making friends again." Sam said, glancing over at his brother.

Ty turned and saw that Dean was dangerously close to starting a bar brawl. A couple guys were glaring at him and growling insults. One stepped up and shoved Dean hard back into the pool table. Sam raced over and grabbed Dean's arm before he could bounce back and swing at the guy, dragging his brother towards the door.

"Sorry, guys. My brother doesn't play well with others." Ty said, grabbing the stack of money. She counted out thirty from the stack and dropped it back on the table, "Here's five back for each of you since I had to cut out early. Same time, next week?"

"Sure, baby."

"Next time ditch your brothers."

"See you later, sweetheart."

Ty smiled and stuffed the money in her pocket as she hurried out the door after Sam and Dean. That had gone incredibly well. Not only had she actually pulled off taking most of their money, but they didn't even seem upset about it. A large grin appeared on her face as she let the bar door swing shut behind her.

"So, how'd you do?"

Ty gasped and jumped when Dean and Sam appeared behind her. She quickly recovered, noticing that Dean didn't seem drunk at all and figuring the fight must have either been staged in order to give her an out or that he'd somehow been caught scamming. Either was entirely possible.

Ty pulled the wad of money out of her pocket and counted quickly, "Minus what I put in, ninety."

"Not bad for a newbie." Dean commented, ruining the compliment with that qualifier, "Come on, let's go."

Ty stuck her tongue out at his back before tromping after him to the Impala. It was late and she wasn't going to argue with him if it might result in delaying them from finally finding a place for the night. As much as she liked the Impala, she did not fancy sleeping in it again.

Dean pulled into the parking lot of the first motel they came across. It was definitely not a place Ty would have been so generous as to call nice, but she was beyond caring. As long as the sheets were clean, she'd be happy. She trailed the boys into the office where a sleepy middle-aged man was watching reruns of _Cheers_.

"Hey, we need two rooms." Dean announced, "A single and a double."

Ty was a little relieved to hear that she'd be getting her own room. Sleeping arrangements with her sharing a room with the guys would just be way too awkward.

"That's forty for the double and thirty for the single." the clerk replied, apparently annoyed at the interruption to his thrilling night.

Ty began pulling money out of her pocket, but Dean put his arm in front of her to keep her from paying.

"We'll be staying a couple days. You can't be serious about that." Dean argued, "Two rooms for three nights at a place like this can't be more than one-fifty."

"One-ninety." the clerk haggled, "Cut off ten dollars each for staying the weekend."

"I'll pay you one-seventy-five and we'll be the quietest tenants you ever had." Dean replied.

He took the money out of Ty's hands and added some from his own pocket, counting quickly and setting it down on the counter. The clerk eyed the stack of cash for a second, then grabbed it and shoved it in the register.

"Fine. But you better not make any messes." he threatened as he slowly handed over the room keys.

"Us?" Dean asked, like he'd never even thought anything messy before. He glanced down at the keys in his hand, "Hey, why're the numbers so far apart?"

"Singles are upstairs, doubles are downstairs." the clerk replied simply, already back to watching the TV.

Dean shrugged and handed Ty her key as he headed back outside to find his room. Ty followed, grabbing her suitcase out of the trunk and hauling it upstairs as the boys carried duffle bags to their own room. Sam glanced over at her, as if to ask her if she wanted help carrying her stuff upstairs, but she shook her head at him and threw him a grin. She wasn't about to be prissy and have the boys carry her stuff. She could lug her suitcase upstairs perfectly fine.

Ty found her room, unlocked the door and shoved her way inside. Unceremoniously dropping her suitcase and backpack onto the floor by her bed, she surveyed the room. It was nothing special. Standard hotel set-up: bed in the center, nightstand with cheap plastic lamp next to it, glued together desk with a TV that looked like something her late grandmother might have owned, and a tiny bathroom. Ty fixated on the bathroom and thought about a hot shower. The idea was irresistible, so she doffed her jacket and sweater onto the bed, grabbed the few toiletries that she'd packed and made a beeline for the shower. It took a minute for the water to heat up, which made Ty upset since it was cold in the room without her clothes on. As soon as the water felt warm, she practically leapt into the spray. The shower proved somewhat disappointing, however, since whatever side of her body was not being hit by the hot water was instantly chilled. And yet, she knew that as soon as she shut the water off, it would be even worse. She cursed herself for not finding the thermostat and adjusting it before getting in and cursed herself even more for not bringing her pajamas into the bathroom with her.

'_Quick like a Band-Aid_.' she told herself as she shut the water off and grabbed a towel, drying herself as quickly as possible before wrapping the towel around her and heading out to seek her clean clothes.

Exiting the bathroom, Ty found herself staring at an intruder in her room.

"Dean! What the hell are you doing in my room?" she demanded, starting to shake already.

Dean's eyes took in Ty's damp, towel-covered form and a sparkle of amusement lit them for a second before he frowned and explained, "Sammy insisted that I should come up here and make sure your room is safe."

"Well, it is. Cold, but safe." Ty said, pushing past him to get to her suitcase. She knelt next to it and began digging through her clothes.

"Oh, really?" Dean said, eyebrow rising, "And what's to stop something nasty from coming in here while you're sleeping?"

Ty looked up from her search. Dean had that look on his face again. That look that said that he knew more about this than her and that she was being stupid for not listening to him. Ty sighed. It would probably be easier to just let him explain himself and do whatever he felt he needed to do. Maybe then he'd hurry up and leave so that she could have a little peace and quiet. Seeing as he'd decided to be angry with her all day, she wasn't really in the mood to spend time with him.

"Alright, fine. What do you suggest, o wise and wonderful Dean?"

"Well," Dean grinned, obviously not disliking that title, "salting the door and windows would be a good idea."

He pulled a box of salt out of his jacket pocket and began to line the floor by the door and windowsills. Ty knew about ghosts and salt, but it hadn't really occurred to her that one actually used the whole salt protection thing.

"Okay, can I go to sleep now?" Ty asked, unwilling to leave Dean alone in her room even though she'd found her warmest pair of sleep attire.

"Nope." Dean shook his head, "You can't be tired, anyway. You slept in the car."

"Not like you did." Ty protested, watching as Dean set the salt down and moved over to kneel next to her bed, "What are doing now?"

"Demon-proofing your bed." Dean answered, inching backwards slowly.

Ty moved closer and saw that he was drawing something in chalk on the carpet around her bed. Ty wondered if drawing on the floor and pouring salt everywhere counted as making a mess, but decided she didn't really care. She hadn't done it, after all. It was all Dean's fault.

Dean was taking too long with whatever he was drawing so Ty gave up her earlier thought to wait for him to finish before changing and quickly stepped back into the bathroom. With her PJs on, she exited, found Dean still scribbling and went in search of the thermostat. She found it on the wall behind the bathroom door and cranked it up a bit. Dean was still defacing the carpet, so for her next task she decided to find the remote. That turned out to be a simple task, since it was chained to the nightstand. Ty turned the TV on and found that it was tuned to the Sci-Fi channel. The picture was fuzzy, but somehow this place still had cable, so she decided not to complain. Besides, _Ghosthunters_ was on.

"Sweet." Ty said, jumping onto the bed, careful not to disturb Dean's artwork.

"What?" Dean asked, looking up.

"_Ghosthunters_." Ty said, gesturing at the TV.

"What?" Dean repeated.

"You've never seen this show? It's awesome! I love Jason and Grant." Ty said, leaning back against the headboard with her legs crossed beneath her.

Dean stood up, brushing chalk off his hands and watched the TV. Steve, the tech guy, was currently explaining what EVP were as they did a sweep with a digital recorder in some haunted location.

"These phonies ever find anything?" he asked, clearly skeptical.

"Yeah." Ty nodded, "They get cool EVP and stuff sometimes. Not like what you guys find, but still cool."

"Huh." Dean said, still watching the TV.

Ty looked at him and found that she couldn't help but want to repair whatever damage she'd done the night before. Despite her own lingering grudge, she still liked him and god only knew how she'd survive more days like that one with them alternating between snapping at each other and ignoring each other. So, she patted the bed and said, "Wanna watch it with me?"

Dean shrugged and sat on the edge of the bed. He shucked off his jacket and dropped it on the floor, watching as Brian got spooked by something and started swearing up and down that something was touching him.

"Is that guy for real?" he asked, glancing back at Ty.

"That's Brian." she nodded, "He's kind of an idiot and he's scared of everything. I figure they keep him around for comic relief."

Dean grinned for another instant, "I've met a couple guys like that who thought they were paranormal investigators."

Ty shrugged, "It's got nerdy appeal, I guess."

"I'm not a nerd." Dean protested.

"No, I mean the scientific approach. Like these guys and their EMF and EVP and orbs. They make up theories about ghosts and power and quartz. Not everybody is into the shoot 'em first thing. Some people want to know the why and how."

Dean shrugged, "Why and how seems a little unimportant when they're trying to kill you."

"Touché." Ty allowed.

The pair both turned their attention back to the TV to watch the reveal of the crew's findings. Nothing spectacular had been recovered, but a few of the crew swore by their personal experiences. Ty was disappointed that this wasn't one of the more conclusive episodes. She kind of wanted to prove her point to Dean that these guys actually found stuff sometimes. Luckily, another episode was coming on next, according to the TV. Apparently, it was some kind of marathon.

A couple hours and episodes later, Ty found herself leaning against Dean's chest as they both lay sprawled on the bed, watching the latest evidence of the paranormal. She wasn't quite sure how it had happened, but somehow things seemed to have settled between them. The tension was still there, but it was manageable. Ty felt comfortable and for once, like she didn't have to prove something. It was almost like hanging out with one of her friends or something.

"It's nice to know we're not crazy." some lady on the TV was saying after the _Ghosthunters_ had confirmed that something was, in fact, going on in her house.

"Oh, no, you're crazy." Dean commented just as Ty was thinking that exact same thing.

"Her house just also happens to be haunted." Ty completed the thought for him.

She leaned her head back so that she could smile up at him. However, when she did so, he stiffened. She sat up, confused by his reaction, and Dean stood up, "I should probably go."

"What's wrong?" Ty asked, mystified by Dean's behavior.

"Nothing." Dean lied, picking his jacket up and backing towards the door, "It's late and we've got carnies to interrogate in a few hours."

"Dude, what crawled up…" Ty began.

"Just drop it." Dean growled, surprising Ty with the harshness of his words.

"I do not get you." Ty admitted, shaking her head.

Dean's hand was already out the door, poised to pull it closed behind him. He paused, "I'm not the one sending mixed signals, sweetheart."

With that the door shut resolutely and Ty found herself watching _Ghosthunters_ alone for no good reason.

"Mixed signals? What the fuck?" she muttered, '_And guys think that women are confusing. What's the big deal about me wanting to be civil?_'

Ty sighed in frustration, knowing that there was no way to figure out what was going on in Dean's brain. There was no point in even trying. So, she turned the TV off and tried to get a little sleep.

The morning came with a knock on her door. Ty dragged herself out of bed with a groan to answer it and found Sam.

"It seems like every time I fall asleep, you're waking me up, Sam. We've got to stop meeting like this." she mumbled.

"Sorry. It's not planned." Sam assured her, "Besides, at least when I wake you up, you don't wave a knife in my face."

"Dean's not a morning person." Ty surmised.

"Not particularly." Sam nodded, "Hey, there's a Denny's across the street. You want to get some breakfast?"

"Yep. Just let me get dressed. Meet you downstairs in ten minutes?"

"Sure." Sam agreed, retreating back to his own room.

Ty closed the door and hastily picked out and pulled on some clothes. Strapping her watch back onto her wrist, she noticed it was about ten. Which meant she'd slept about five hours after Dean had left. Must have been all the sleep she'd gotten the day before in the car then, because she felt pretty well-rested and alert. She even appreciated the weather more now. The cold air outside was actually kind of nice now that the sun was up.

Pulling her hair into a pony tail, Ty hurried down the stairs to the ground floor and wandered over to the Impala, realizing that she didn't know which room belonged to the boys. Luckily, Sam appeared outside a moment later, hurriedly closing the door behind him before something hit it with a hard, dull thud.

"Dean just try to kill you?" Ty asked, walking over.

"Well, that was definitely a boot aimed at my head."

"He fall back asleep?" Ty guessed.

Sam nodded, "I told him where we're going. If you don't want to wait, we can head over and he can meet us there. Or we can come up with more ways of waking him up. Whichever comes first."

"Cool." Ty nodded, falling in by his side to walk across the street.

Ty and Sam took up a booth at the Denny's and ordered breakfast, chatting about the job and joking about Dean. Ty had just finished her breakfast and was leaning back against the booth trying not to joke as she laughed at a story of Dean and Sam's youth (apparently, they got caught fighting with some bullies and while Dean got suspended, Sammy just got detention and yet Sam was still the one who ended up grounded that week). Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something and when she turned her head, she saw Dean looking at them through the window as he crossed the street. She almost waved, but the look on his face made her stop in the middle of the process of raising her arm. He looked particularly grouchy. Ty prepared herself for another argument. At least she'd be able to argue on a full stomach this time.

Dean stormed into the Denny's blowing past the hostess and marching over to their table. He popped the collar of his jacket and shoved his hands deep into his pockets as he came to stand next to them.

"Hey, Dean." Sam said, "You hungry?"

"No, not really." Dean said, "Let's just get this bitch over with."

"Dude, what's the matter with you?" Sam pressed.

"Lay off me, Sam."

"Did I do something to piss you off that I don't remember?"

"I'm leaving. You coming?"

"Don't worry, he's mad at me, too." Ty interjected.

"I'm not mad! Now, let's go!" Dean snapped angrily.

Sam and Ty exchanged a look, then both looked at Dean with obvious expressions of disbelief. Dean's fist clenched at his side and he took a deep breath.

"Look, if you two are too busy with your little date for our job, then I can do this alone." he said.

"Okay! We're coming. Jesus." Sam muttered, pulling some money out of his pocket and dropping it on the table for their food.

Ty followed Sam and Dean back outside to the Impala and got in. She was functioning on basic auto-pilot while her brain struggled to process the ludicrous information she'd just acquired. It was like a flash of lightning had just ignited in her brain. She could be wrong, but she was fairly sure that she knew what the matter with Dean was. It was idiotic, but given Dean's way of thinking and special kind of logic, it was probably on the money.

'_Dean thinks that I like Sam_." she thought, mystified.

She flashed back on the past few hours and their encounters. It had all started when she'd told Dean that there was a reason he got girls, but Sam got girlfriends. Then, he'd gotten weird in the car when Sam had let her borrow his jacket and she'd said that she loved him. And that comment about mixed signals. It all made sense. Dean was a moron!

'_It would serve him right to have a girl dump him for his little brother. Let him be jealous for a change._' a second flash of brilliance struck her, '_I should make him jealous!_'

Ty's head snapped up and she felt her diabolical smile tugging at her lips. She did enjoy a moderately evil plot every now and then and this was perfect.

"Hey, blondie!"

Ty snapped out of it, realizing that Dean had been talking to her, "What? And don't call me that!"

"Care to join us here for the planning stage?"

"Figured we'd just be visiting and checking out the local carnival." Ty shrugged. She flipped her hair in her best impression of a bubbly airhead, "You know Betsy loves a good time."

"Well, unless that good time includes hooking up with carnies, I don't think that's going to get us close enough to see their pet wolf." Dean challenged.

Ty was about to call Dean an ass or make some other comment that would start an argument, but checked herself and decided instead to start phase one of her plan: appearing on exceptionally comfortable and familiar terms with Sam. She scooted forward and leaned across the back of the front seat.

"Well, Sam's the brains of this operation, right? What do you think, Sammy?" she asked, ruffling his mop of hair.

"Hey." Sam protested, brushing her hand away, "Well, we could try to get jobs with the carnival again."

"Somehow I don't think they'll go for that seeing as their all in on it and they tend to go poof after three days."

"Well, then, what's your brilliant idea, Dean?" Ty demanded, failing to see a third option.

Dean shrugged, "Best I can think of is zone defense. We each take a section and keep an eye out for anything."

"How is that different from my plan?" Ty asked, annoyed.

"We split up." Dean said simply.

"And when in the history of horror movies has that ever been a good idea?" Ty objected.

"How else do you plan on protecting a carnival full of kids?"

"I think he's right, Ty." Sam added before Ty could say anything else less helpful than argumentative.

"Okay, fine." Ty pouted, feeling a little bit like she was being ganged up on.

She didn't have too much time to complain however because she could see a Ferris wheel nearing through the windshield. Even though it was only about eleven o'clock, it appeared the carnival was already in full swing. She could see small forms waving their arms from the gondolas as the slowly rotated. Her frown deepened, her lips pressing tightly together as she wondered if she'd be able to stop one of them from losing those gyrating limbs to some kind of monster in the next few days.

Dean parked the Impala in the lot across the street, "Looks like this is the place. Come on, kids. We've got a carnival to crash."


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Hopefully suspense is building up the wazoo in this chapter. And yes I'm aware, as my spell-check is informing me, that wazoo is not a word. Anyway, nod to Dean'sBaby22 at the beginning of this chapter. Thanks for all the reviews, guys. They make my world.

Chapter Fourteen: Devil's Dance

_Yeah, I feel you too  
Feel those things you do  
In your eyes I see a fire that burns  
To free the you  
That's running through  
Deep inside you know  
Seeds I plant will grow  
One day you will see  
And dare to come down to me  
Yeah, come on, come on now take the chance  
That's right  
Let's dance  
Snake, I am the snake  
Tempting, that bite you take  
Let me make your mind  
Leave yourself behind  
Be not afraid  
I've got what you need  
Hunger I will feed  
One day you will see  
And dare to come down to me  
Yeah, come on, come on now take the chance  
Haha, come dance  
Yeah, come dancing  
One day you will see  
And dare to come down to me  
Yeah, come on, come on now take the chance  
Yeah, I feel you too  
Feel, those things you do  
In your eyes I see a fire that burns  
To free the you  
That's running through  
Deep inside you know  
Seeds I plant will grow  
One day you will see  
And dare to come down to me  
Yeah, come on, come on now take the chance  
That's right, let's dance  
Mm, it's nice to see you here, haha_

'_Why_ _do I get the feeling that I'm going to get hurt?_' Ty wondered as she wandered around a few gaming booths back towards the Kamikaze ride, '_Well, could be because I'm an accident-prone smartass whose really good at getting herself into trouble and only about half as good at getting herself out of it._'

"Fuck." she swore to herself, not enjoying this foreboding feeling that had settled over her. She tried to ignore it and focused instead on watching the carnies operating the various attractions as discretely as possible. So far, they only seemed the normal carnie level of creepy and suspicious. But even normal levels of carnie-ness under normal circumstances were enough to put her on edge, "Damn Dean to hell. Split up, my ass!"

"Hey! Hey!" someone behind her was yelling.

Even after wandering the area from the games to the rides on the west side of the lot for hours, Ty made the mistake of looking and the carnie trying to get her attention instantly noticed. A wide grin spread across his face, exposing questionable dental hygiene, and he gestured wildly for her to join him. Ty had already dodged the hooks of over a dozen carnies trying to rope her into everything from shooting games to throwing ping pong balls into dishes, but she rolled her eyes and allowed herself to be drawn closer by this one, figuring that at the very least she could try to get a read on him and see if there was anything obviously untoward going on. Besides, despite the peril lurking somewhere in the shadows, so far she had yet to discover anything and she was frankly getting a little bored.

"For a lovely lady like you, I'll let you have five darts for the price of three." the carnie offered, openly leering in that way that carnies do that is somehow supposed to be flattering.

"Oh, I don't know. I'm not much good at games." Ty replied, playing the hard sell and trying not to let on how uncomfortable being hit on by middle-aged carnies made her feel.

"Oh, it's easy! Anyone can do it. You want a practice shot? I let you take one right now for free. Come on, come on! Come over here and take a practice throw." the carnie insisted, all but dragging her over into position.

Ty let him shove a dart into her hand, looking down at it, then up at the board covered with a myriad of balloons of all colors. Stuffed animals of various sizes and descriptions hung from every other part of the tent, supposedly luring the patrons in to win such desirable prizes. Ty didn't actually get it, personally, but throwing sharp things at balloons had its own appeal.

Ty repositioned the dart in her hand and took aim, biting her lip a little as she did so. Balloons had a tricky way of moving to the side just enough that the dart slide past them. Plus, the darts provided by the sly carnival attendants were so dull that there was always the possibility that they wouldn't actually pop the balloons they hit unless thrown with sufficient force. Ty didn't much care beyond the fact that if she somehow missed, it would be terribly embarrassing for her as a hunter.

Ty released, aiming for a particularly obnoxiously tinted pink balloon in the center. The dart drifted a little more than she'd anticipated, but luckily a bit of a breeze blew the balloon in that direction also, causing balloon and pointy object to meet at the perfect moment. The "pop!" was terribly satisfying and Ty found herself grinning as a result. The lanky carnie clapped, his disturbingly wide smile growing even wider.

"See! I told you it was easy. Five dollars and I'll give you five more darts. If you just hit three balloons, you can have one of these." he said, gesturing at the mid-sized range of animals.

So far his act seemed pretty standard. Ty wondered if it was worth shelling out five bucks to see if he blurted anything about kidnapping small children and feeding them to a werewolf. It seemed pretty unlikely that he was going to reveal anything more regardless of how much she spent on the stupid game. Maybe she should try a different approach, "I don't think I should press my luck. But I'll bet you're really good at this, huh? Is this what you do all the time?"

She leaned against the countertop, trying to seem exceptionally friendly and someone anyone could confide in. She mentally focused her Jedi powers, '_Come on, talk to me. You know you want to tell me your dirty, little secrets. How are you picking the kids?_'

"Not _all_ the time." the carnie drawled, pressing his hands down on the counter near Ty and leaning over her.

Ty had to stomp down on her instinctive desire to put more space between them. Ty wrinkled her nose as she caught a whiff of his breath. He had to be eating people. No one's breath could naturally smell that bad. Forcing herself to look up at him, she asked, "So, what do you do then? What's it like living with a carnival, moving around all the time?"

"Why? Thinking of running away with us?" the carnie asked, suddenly looking a little suspicious.

Two possible courses of action popped into Ty's head. She could either say that she was just curious and continue to play it friendly or she could launch into some spiel about how she hated being tied down and had always dreamed about living a life on the road and how free that would be. If she could maybe get them interested in her joining them, she might be able to get a little closer to pay-dirt. So, Ty sucked in a deep breath to launch into a melodramatic tale about her dream of becoming a carnie.

"Hey, Casimir!" another tall, dark complexioned carnie strode over to the booth.

"Lel." Casimir greeted him with a nod.

He straightened and Ty, relieved at the distraction, took the opportunity to step back. The newcomer glanced at her briefly, before turning back to his comrade, "Raina sent me to get you. I'll take over for you."

Casimir nodded and moved around the side of the booth, exiting out the side tent flap. Lel, foregoing that route, leapt over the counter to take his place.

"I'm afraid we'll have to talk later, little runaway." Casimir said as he passed her, leering down at her.

Ty just nodded, unable to think of something to say and watched him leave, weaving his way expertly through the people and disappearing from view. Obviously, there was a lot going unsaid between the two carnies. Ty wondered who Raina was and why her word commanded immediate obedience. Maybe she was the ringleader? Or maybe Ty was getting a little too Nancy Drew about all of this.

Casimir's replacement, Lel was looking at her with interest, so Ty decided to try her tactics on him instead. He was younger and decidedly better looking than Casimir, so maybe she could play flirtatious Betsy again and get somewhere.

"So, your name is Lel?" she said casually, "That's an interesting name."

"It's Slavic." Lel shrugged. He held up a few darts, "You want to play?"

"Casimir was showing me how, but I guess I'm no good at it." she said, giving him an embarrassed smile, "I was just talking to him about how cool it must be to travel around all the time and see so many places. I've always wished I could do something like that."

"Really?" Lel asked, looking too much like he wasn't buying it for Ty's taste.

She gave him another embarrassed smile, playing the nervous, naïve little girl, "Yeah. You know, this is kind of embarrassing, but…when I was little, people always talk about running away to join the circus, you know? Well, I always dreamed about actually doing that. I mean, what could be better than having fun all the time with interesting people? You never have to be stuck in the same boring place. You can just up and move on to the next town." Ty watched him closely for his reaction before laying out the bait, "I'd do anything to do what you guys do."

Lel was watching her closely, inspecting her face, judging her sincerity. Ty met his gaze boldly, daring him to catch her in her lie. Finally, he smiled at her and his whole demeanor changed.

"Now I see why Casimir was talking to you instead of bringing other people over. You really want to join us?" Lel asked, eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Totally!" Ty exclaimed.

"Why don't you come back here in a half hour, around sunset? I'll be free and we can talk more about 'running away with the circus.'"

"Really? I'm there!" Ty nodded enthusiastically, "Thanks, Lel!"

"Oh, what is your name?" Lel asked before Ty could make a getaway.

Ty mentally shrugged and said, "Betsy."

The name had been working for her so far on this gig. Why mess with it?

"Until then, Betsy." Lel said, taking her hand and pressing a kiss against her knuckles.

Ty's skin crawled, but Lel's eyes never left her face so she kept a death grip on her smile. Through nearly clenched teeth she forced out, "I can't wait."

Thankfully, Lel released her hand and Ty was able to retreat. She walked quickly away, feeling Lel watching her as she went. She made sure to turn a corner so the he couldn't see her anymore before she dug her cell out of her pocket. While wandering around the carnival looking for tell-tale signs of evil, she'd decided it would be a good idea to reprogram her first two speed dial settings to Sam and Dean's numbers. She hit the one for Sam and waited impatiently for him to pick up.

"Yeah?" Sam asked after two rings.

"Hey, I think I've got a way to get some inside info." Ty said quickly, "Where are you?"

"Standing by the world's smallest horse and the world's largest alligator."

"Be there in two seconds. Don't move." Ty instructed before flipping her phone shut and shoving it back in her pocket.

She hurried over to the area Sam had specified and spotted him standing near the aforementioned world's smallest horse exhibit. She broke into a jog and quickly crossed the distance to him.

"So why do I have a feeling that you've come up with some kind of plan that Dean and I aren't going to like?" Sam asked.

"Because I have." Ty said with a grin, "Let's go find him so I can tell you both and you can try ganging up on me again."

"Alright." Sam said, leading the way over to the section Dean had claimed as his own.

Ty followed, taking her phone out and punching the button for Dean. It rang twice as long as it had for Sam before Dean bothered to answer, "What?"

Ty blinked in surprise at his answer. She got the distinct impression she was interrupting something.

"Oh, gee, Dean. It's nothing. I'm just being sacrificed. Why? Did I catch you at a bad time?" Ty replied.

"Serious? You got busted already?" Dean asked in an incredulous whisper.

"No, you idiot!" Ty snapped, annoyed that he would think there was even a chance that she was serious, "Where the hell are you?"

"I'm in the performance tent. Why?"

"Just stay put." Ty said and hung up before Dean could manage to annoy her more.

It took a few more minutes for Ty and Sam to locate the tent set up for performances. A plaque in front of the entrance listed the times at which one could be entertained by either a contortionist, a magician or a (Ty shuddered) clown. Ty paused to double check the times and make sure that the clown's show wasn't anywhere near the current time and was relieved to see that the contortionist act had just ended and the magician was scheduled to begin in fifteen minutes. The area should, hopefully, be clown free.

Upon entering the tent, they found Dean standing near the stage talking to an extremely slender woman wearing tights. Sam rolled his eyes and Ty sighed at how predictable that was. Ty gestured for Sam to go fetch his brother, since she wasn't sure she could handle any comments he might make.

Sam tapped his brother on the shoulder when he failed to acknowledge his arrival, "Dean."

"Oh, hey, Sam." Dean said, glancing at him for a fraction of a second before returning his full attention to the woman standing in front of him, "This is Yeva."

"Hi." Sam said politely.

"Hello." Yeva practically purred, turning her sensuous smile on Sam.

Ty was almost positive she could see Sam's cheeks turning a little red before he coughed and turned to back to Dean, "Uh…Dean? We need to go…over there."

Sam gestured lamely towards Ty. Ty shook her head at Sam's inability to keep his male-ness in check.

'_Boys_.' she thought, '_Hopeless_.'

"In a minute." Dean brushed him off, "So, Yeva, how long can you hold one of those positions?"

"As long as I need to." Yeva replied with a wink.

Ty's eyes narrowed as she caught Dean closing his eyes for a second and exhaling slowly. She couldn't stop a disgusted noise from escaping her lips, but luckily she was far enough away that no one noticed. Unfortunately, that also meant that neither Sam nor Dean was moving. So, Ty coughed loudly to get their attention. Dean still seemed oblivious, but Sam looked at her and returned his attention to Dean.

"Come on, Dean." he insisted, pulling his brother away.

"Bye, Dean." Yeva said, waving.

"Bye." Dean replied, stumbling backwards as Sam pulled him away.

Once they had reached Ty and exited the tent, he yanked his arm out of Sam's grasp and slugged him in the shoulder.

"Ow!" Sam protested.

"Dude, she's a _contortionist_." Dean complained.

"You're gross." Ty commented.

"No, I'm in love." Dean corrected, glancing back towards the tent, "Can you imagine what…"

"Anyway!" Ty interrupted quickly, "I have a plan I need to tell you guys about."

Dean stopped, folding his arms across his chest, "Well, this ought to be good."

Ty ignored him, "I met this guy named Lel and told him about how I'd always dreamed of joining the circus or something. Anyway, he said to meet him at sunset and we could talk about me joining them. I…"

"No way." Dean interrupted.

"Oh, come on, Dean. It's a great idea. Sure beats wandering around here when we don't even know what we're looking for. We don't even know how they choose them." Ty argued.

"So, you think you should volunteer?" Dean countered, "Oh, please, carnies, pick me! I want to be wolf-meat!"

"First, that is so not how I sound. Second, I'm not a kid. All the victims have been thirteen or under. And lastly, you know I'm right! This is our best bet."

"Sam, tell her she's being stupid." Dean ordered.

"Sam, tell him he can shove it because I'm right on this one."

Sam looked between the two of them, annoyed at being stuck in the middle, "Well you're both being stupid, but I think that Ty's idea…"

"Oh, that figures!" Dean growled, spinning around and stalking away.

Sam glanced quickly at Ty than chased after his brother. He put a hand on his shoulder to stop him, which Dean immediately shrugged off. Ty followed them at a reasonable distance, hoping they wouldn't notice.

"Dude, can I talk to you?" Sam insisted.

"What?"

"Why are you being…?" Sam just gestured, unable to find an appropriate word, "It's not like we haven't used people as bait before. Usually, it's your idea."

"Well, this time I don't like it! And I seem to recall that you usually don't like these kinds of plans!"

"Dude," Sam began softly, trying to get Dean to calm down, "she'll be okay."

Dean snorted, turning away from Sam again, "Don't even go there, Sam."

"What…?" Sam began in frustration. How were they supposed to decide anything if he couldn't even talk about the problem?

"Fine!" Dean finally exclaimed, "She can do whatever she wants. I don't care."

A ray of light blinded Ty as she came around the side of another booth as she followed the boys. Shielding her eyes and glancing in the direction of the source, she saw that the sun was dipping towards the horizon.

"Uh…guys!" she called.

Both brothers froze and then turned to face her. Ty gestured at the sun, "I've got a date soon."

None of them spoke for an excruciatingly long moment before Sam broke it by moving back towards Ty and launching into preparation mode, "So, you said the guy's name is Lel?"

Ty nodded, "It's Slavic."

"Slavic?" Sam paused, his face developing an inward cast as if he were trying to remember something.

"What? What is it?" Dean asked, reluctantly joining them.

"Slavic folklore is famous for a few things: vampires, gypsies and witchcraft."

"Gypsies!" Ty exclaimed.

Sam and Dean both gestured frantically for her to keep it down and glanced around nervously to see if they'd been overheard. No one seemed to be paying any attention to them, but you could never be too careful.

"Sorry." Ty whispered, embarrassed, "It's just…these guys are totally gypsies! Kidnapping and all."

"Except in most of the lore, they don't kill the kids. They steal them and then raise them as their own." Sam pointed out, "Except…"

"Except." Dean prompted.

"In witchcraft, child sacrifices are really powerful. Like dangerous, powerful."

"I did a report on witchcraft for my European History class." Ty nodded, "Child sacrifices were supposed to be the most important sacrifice a witch made to the devil. Guys, the kids had to be unbaptized!"

"Great." Dean said sarcastically, "So, we just have to start asking people if they baptized their kids. That's not going to seem weird at all."

"Hey, at least it's something." Ty snapped defensively.

Sam nodded in agreement, "It's a start."

"Jesus, do you two have to agree on everything?" Dean asked, making a disgusted face.

Sam was still lost in thought, "What are they doing with the sacrifices? It's got to be something huge."

"If we stop them, it won't matter." Ty said, glancing at the sun again to see that it had sunk even lower. She took out her phone again and held it up, "Hey, if you don't need to worry about minutes, we can keep a line open so you guys can hear what's going on."

"Good idea." Sam nodded, grabbing his own phone.

Ty dialed his number and he answered, nodding again to her to indicate that it was ready. Ty eased her phone into her pocket so that the receiver protruded a little. She reminded herself that if they made it through this, she still needed to call her parents.

"Wish me luck." she said.

"Be careful." Sam said instead.

"Don't do anything stupid." Dean added.

Ty smiled at them both confidently, "Me?"

She didn't wait for a response because she was sure she didn't want to hear it. Instead, she spun around and headed back towards the dart game. The crowds were increasing as the sun went down and she had to squeeze through people in order to navigate her way back to the spot where she was supposed to meet Lel. Finally, she spotted the colorful balloons and the lanky, young carnie convincing people to try to pop them. She also noticed that he wasn't alone in manning the booth; another carnie she hadn't seen before was also there. He shared the same look that all the carnies she had seen so far had. She wondered for a second if they weren't all related.

"Winchesters, you guys hear me okay?" Ty asked.

"It's loud, but I got you." Sam confirmed, his voice muffled by the fabric covering half of her phone.

"Good 'cause I just spotted my date. Keep quiet on your end."

Sam didn't say anything, so Ty took that as a sign that he got it. She closed the remaining distance to the dart counter, a bright smile in place.

"Hey!" she greeted Lel as soon as he finished finagling a couple out of their cash, "Remember me?"

"Of course." Lel said with an answering smile.

He slipped around the side through the tent flap and came up beside her, invading her personal space as he brushed past her.

"Follow me." he instructed before heading off across the lot.

Ty tried to pay close attention to where she was going, but it soon became impossible. It was really all she could do to keep up with the carnie as he expertly weaved through the guests and attractions. The next thing she knew, she was approaching a fence with a sign on it that read "Carnival Personnel Only." Ty glanced over her shoulder back at the bustling carnival grounds and worried that, if she got into trouble, Sam and Dean might not be able to find her. She certainly wouldn't be much help in giving directions. Thinking quickly, she pulled off her necklace and draped it off the side of closest tent, then quickly hurried up behind Lel so that he wouldn't look back and notice what she had done. Hopefully the boys would recognize it as the dog-tag necklace she always wore and would be able to find her in case things went sideways.

"So this is backstage, huh?" Ty asked as Lel opened the gate and gestured for her to go through.

"I guess you could say that." Lel nodded.

Ty looked around, taking in the collection of trailers, all crammed into the small space. Since the carnival was still in full swing, there weren't many people present, but a smattering of carnies relaxed in the swiftly increasing darkness of the evening. One had a barbeque going and was cooking something. A radio somewhere out of sight played Metallica. Ty tilted her head to the side as she tried to identify the familiar music and realized it was "Devil's Dance" off the Reload album. It struck her as a little odd that her whole adventure with the Winchesters had started with her speeding to a bar listening to "Fuel" off that same album. Seeing as those two songs were the only ones she liked off that CD, it almost gave her chills.

"So, what do you think of our life of glamour?" Lel prodded with a sarcastic smile as he gestured around.

Ty ignored his sarcasm and gave him a nod in return, "It's pretty cool."

Truth be told, it reminded her of when she had worked at the Renaissance Festival. The setting was remarkably similar to what it was like after hours there when the patrons were gone.

Lel laughed at her response and led her to some cheap patio furniture that sat in front of one of the trailers. He took a seat and motioned for her to do the same, "So, what makes you think that you should be one of us?"

"Try me." Ty replied, "I'm sure I can learn just about anything and like I told you, I've always just loved the idea of traveling around like you guys do. And I'll bet you're all really close, too. Like family."

"Most of us are family. Which is why this is kind of a family business. Not many outsiders." Lel said, his tone clearly indicating that she was still one of said outsiders.

Ty leaned forward and placed a hand on Lel's arm, hating the contact, but forcing herself to make it anyway, "But there's still a chance for me, right?"

"Well, I certainly think so."

Lel looked down at Ty in a may that really made it hard for her not to squirm. This job sucked. Not only was she extremely uncomfortable and putting herself in danger, but none of these gypsies looked anything like Brad Pitt in _Snatch_. She wished he would just up and tell her that she had to do some kind of creepy initiation and introduce her to the mastermind of this scheme instead of making pointless small-talk.

Without stopping to think too much about whether she was being too forward, Ty asked, "So, what do I have to do?"

"Well," Lel said slowly, leaning back in his chair, but still watching her closely, "there's more to being a carnie than just pushing buttons on the Ferris wheel."

'_Like sacrificing unbaptized children to Satan?_' Ty urged in her thoughts. Out loud she asked, "Like what?"

"Like I said, we're a family. We all have to help keep the family going. Whatever it takes. Are you sure you're really serious about this?" Lel pressed.

Ty nodded solemnly.

"Well, then, I suppose you should meet Raina." he announced, standing up.

Ty quickly followed suit, "Who's Raina?"

"She's sort of the matriarch of our group. She's the one who has the final say and she's the one you'll need to impress."

"Got it."

Ty followed Lel through the trailers to the one situated in the back, most remote from the rest as if to give the occupant the most privacy. Ty couldn't help but feel apprehensive. This was it. This was the person behind all this gypsy witchcraft mumbo jumbo.

Lel knocked softly on the old trailer door, then stepped back. A moment later, the door was pushed open and an old woman's voice called, "Come in."

Her voice held more of an Eastern lilt than any of the others and a myriad of images flashed through Ty's brain as she imagined what Raina must look like. She fumbled with the buttons on her jacket absently as she followed Lel into the dimly lit trailer. It was a small trailer and Lel obscured Ty's view of the occupant.

"Raina, this is Betsy." Lel said softly.

"Sit." Raina commanded.

Lel bowed his head in deference to her and took a seat in the chair nearby. As he did so, Ty got her first look at the old woman. She was seated at a small table, hunched over a steaming cup of some unidentifiable liquid. Her hair was completely gray, catching the light in the trailer and making it shine almost silver. She seemed much to pale to Ty, like maybe she never left the trailer or only left it at night. She bore the same distinguished nose that Lel possessed and had a black shawl draped across her shoulders, outlining her slight frame, but what really made Ty shiver were her eyes. They were a golden brown, almost amber, and they seemed to be able to look straight through her. Ty met her gaze for only a moment before looking away, foolishly afraid that if she looked into the woman's eyes, she would be able to read her mind somehow. It didn't make much sense, but that was immediately how this woman struck Ty, as the type of person who would be able to tell if you were lying. Ty felt her mouth go dry, knowing that she would not be able to charm Raina into telling her any incriminating secrets.

"Sit." Raina repeated and Ty found herself immediately falling into the closest empty chair without even thinking about it. It was only after the action had been completed did Ty think to question her immediate obedience, "Why have you brought me this girl, Lel?"

"She wants to join us."

Ty felt small and unimportant with them talking about her like that in front of her. She tried to shake the feeling. She was here to stop these crazy freaks! They should be afraid of her!

"Just give me a chance. You won't be disappointed." she interjected despite the feeling that she was getting from this lady that you only spoke when she addressed you.

Raina's gaze snapped to Ty as she spoke, her eyes boring into her. Ty looked away yet again, knowing she was admitting defeat in a way, but unwilling to risk giving herself away at this point.

"Give me your palm." Raina finally commanded.

Startled, Ty blurted, "Why?"

Lel looked up in surprise at that and Raina seemed taken aback that her orders hadn't been immediately followed. Under other circumstances, Ty might have smiled, but at the moment she only worried if she hadn't dug herself a 5'6" hole in which Raina was about to bury her.

"Give me your palm." she repeated slowly, her eyes gleaming with, Ty suspected, fury at having to repeat herself.

Reluctantly, Ty stretch her hand out to the old gypsy and let her take hold of it, inspecting her palm. She flinched at the contact, but tried not to let it show. She had a sneaking suspicion that Raina was going to read her palm and she acknowledged that the crone would look at home behind any crystal ball. Still, what could her hand possibly tell her? Would it say that she had really come her to stop them, not to join them? Ty had never put much stalk in palm-readers, but she did believe in psychics and she wouldn't be surprised given the vibes she was getting from this lady if she was one.

"You conceal much about yourself." Raina rasped, her breath blowing across Ty's hand as she leaned over it, squinting at the creases in her skin.

Ty laughed nervously, "Guys like girls with a little mystery, right?"

Raina glanced up at her, "You tell stories about yourself. You are a liar."

Ty frowned, "I like to write fiction."

"There is a black cloud around you."

Ty couldn't explain that one away. What did that even mean? Ty wished fervently that Raina would quit reading her and just give her a trial run at this carnie thing.

Raina tugged Ty's hand closer to her face, almost pulling Ty across the table. She was silent for a long moment before she finally let Ty's hand go and a knowing smile crossed her face. Ty's mind raced as she tried to figure out what she could possibly know.

"Lel, take our new friend and introduce her to our way of life." Raina instructed, "I think she will do well with Nicholai at the Fun House."

Ty blinked in surprise. The look on Raina's face clearly indicated that she knew something, but she was doing just what Ty had hoped and letting her off the hook. What was going on?

She almost asked out loud what Raina had seen in her palm, but Lel was already standing and taking her by the arm, guiding her out of the trailer. Ty turned and glanced back at Raina before she was propelled out the door. The old woman's smile seemed almost malicious and her eyes seemed to burn. Ty gulped. Even if this is what she'd wanted to happen, it could not be good.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I'm back! I survived the fall semester and so far, I'm surviving my winter session class. In the interim between last chapter and this chapter I've also managed to procure a '67 Chevy Impala of my very own. The car I've always wanted and now I have it. I rule! Now if only they would hurry up and ship my new baby...

Chapter 15: No Tomorrow

_I live my life like there's no tomorrow _

_And all I've got I had to steal _

_Least I don't need to beg or borrow _

_Yes I'm living at a pace that kills _

_Runnin' with the devil _

_Runnin' with the devil _

_I found the simple life ain't so simple _

_When I jumped out on that road _

_I got no love, no love you'd call real _

_Ain't got nobody waiting at home _

_Runnin' with the devil _

_Runnin' with the devil _

_You know I, I found the simple life, weren't so simple, no _

_When I jumped out on that road _

_Got no love, no love you'd call real _

_Got nobody waiting at home _

_Runnin' with the devil _

_Runnin' with the devil _

_Runnin' with the devil _

_Runnin' with the devil _

Ty followed after Lel as quickly as she could. He was moving quickly and his long legs covered more ground than her shorter ones. He opened a gate that divided the carnie living quarters from the carnival grounds and Ty found herself reentering the carnival in an entirely different spot than where she had left it. Ty wondered if there was something supernatural in the set-up of this carnival, too. It seemed like there was too much crammed into such a small area and yet there was room for it all.

Ty caught sight of the Fun House approaching and felt chills run down her spine. She'd never liked funhouses. She didn't see the point in an attraction that simulated what it was like being drunk and she didn't like being so disoriented. A short, old carnie perched on a stool by the entrance, snatching tickets from the hands of children and occasionally their parents as they walked in. He caught sight of Ty and Lel approaching and offered them a grin that was missing a few teeth. Ty didn't particularly look forward to spending the next few hours under his supervision to say the least. She needed to get away so she could talk with the boys. She had to tell them about how Raina had looked at her. She knew something. Ty was certain of that and she needed to warn the Winchesters.

"Lel!" the short carnie barked in a voice that made Ty shudder, "What did you bring me?"

He asked the question with eager, beady eyes while he looked at Ty like she was some kind of a gift. Ty couldn't stop herself from glaring back at him.

"Nicholai, this is Betsy. She wants to join us. Raina wants her to join you here for awhile." Lel reported, sharing some sort of silent understanding beyond his words that made Ty even surer that something was up.

"I see." Nicholai nodded slowly, still grinning rapaciously, "Well, come over here, girly."

Ty hesitated, "Uh…actually, I kind of have to use the bathroom."

Both men stared at her blankly like they had no idea what she was saying. Ty looked down, mostly to avoid doing or saying anything snarky like what she was thinking, '_What? I know people don't usually have to pee in horror movies, but come on!_'

"Could you point me to the closest one?" she managed to ask instead.

Lel pointed and Ty caught sight of a series of port-a-johns set off to the side across the way from the funhouse. Ty smiled and promised, "Be back in a minute."

It was hard for her to keep her pace slow as she put distance between herself and the two carnies. They were all creepy, but Lel had at least been tolerable. Nicholai was off the deep end on the creepy carnie scale along with Raina. Ty was almost unable to turn her back on him, at all. Once she reached the mass of people waiting to use the portable facilities, she purposefully weaved her way through the people until the funhouse was obscured from her view and hopefully she was obscured from theirs. Then, she slipped around the other side of the tall, blue rectangular structures and finally felt like she could let her guard down a little. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and switched off the speaker before holding it up to her ear.

"Sam?"

"Ty, what's going on?" Sam asked.

"Well, I'm hiding behind the port-a-johns at the moment. You guys get all that?" Ty asked.

"Yeah. Sounded like it went fairly well. I mean, you're in, right?"

"Yeah, but...guys, that old carnie chick definitely knows something. You should have seen the way she looked at me. Something is definitely up and I don't like it. I think she may know why we're really here." Ty admitted.

"What?" Dean demanded, "How could she?"

"I don't know. How does Sam see how people are going to die?" Ty snapped, annoyed, '_Great, now he thinks I botched the job_.'

"You must have tipped her off." Dean accused, confirming Ty's thoughts.

"I did not! You heard the whole freaking thing, she just knows! I didn't do anything, but I got the impression that she saw right through me." Ty growled, aggravated that no matter what she did, Dean seemed adamant about not trusting her competence.

"Okay!" Sam interjected before any more fighting could ensue, "It doesn't matter. Ty, do you think we should think of a new plan?"

"No." Ty said, shaking her head for emphasis even though the boys couldn't see it, "This is still our best bet. Just...stay alert for me."

"We will." Sam reassured, "We'll stay close."

"Alright. Got to go." Ty said quickly, choosing not to let on that knowing the boys would be close by made her feel a little relieved.

Ty flipped her phone shut and slipped it in her pocket as she edged back around the port-a-johns. But the second she turned the corner around the tall blue rectangular structure, she found herself face to face with a clown. She jumped and a startled scream escaped her throat before her mind started screaming at her to calm down and act normal. Dean already thought she'd blown it, she didn't need to prove him right. Besides that, the clown was glaring at her suspiciously, which was really making her want to run as far as possible from it.

"Sorry, you startled me." she managed to spit out before hurrying around it, careful not to turn her back on it and moving as quickly away as she could without actually breaking into a run. The clown continued to stare after her, its features drawn tighter than the painted on frown. Oh, she was definitely going to have nightmares about this one. She was just glad that she'd hung up before she screamed and hadn't given the boys a reason to come racing over.

Back at the Fun House, Ty found that Lel had disappeared, leaving her alone with Nicholai. Ty was less than thrilled about that situation, but after her conversation with the boys, she was determined to get to the bottom of this no matter how uncomfortable it might make her. This was way more important anyway.

"Well, well. You're back, princess. Come here and let me show you how this works." Nicholai grinned, gesturing for her to come stand by his side.

Ty tried not to let her reluctance show or make any threats concerning the continued use of the nickname "princess" and instead tried to look excited about starting her new "dream life."

The rest of the night passed fairly quickly what with Nicholai constantly ordering Ty around and leering at her none too discretely. As the night progressed it got harder and harder for Ty to disguise her impatience. Not only was this all going nowhere, but this job was getting old real fast. One second she was being told to rip tickets and the next she had to slip through the Fun House to the slide at the end to make sure that everyone was going down properly. At first, Ty used the opportunities presented to check out the surroundings and occasionally she even tried to chat up Nicholai, but so far it was all a bust and the night was rapidly drawing to a close.

At ten till eleven, Lel returned to check on Ty before the carnival closed for the night. It was all Ty could do not to kick the guy in the shin and then strangle him until he told her their evil doings. Instead she forced her features into a smile that could easily have doubled as a grimace and thanked Lel so much for the opportunity, and could she please come back again tomorrow? Lel agreed, like it was already part of the plan and told her when and where she should go. With that, Ty bolted away from the carnies towards where she had last seen Dean. The boys had been taking turns all night strolling by and checking on her. She was sure they couldn't be far.

A tap on her shoulder, made her whirl around, hands lifting instinctively into defensive positions, only to find the boys in question right behind her.

"Stop doing that!" she snapped.

"Sorry." Dean answered, seeming anything but apologetic, "So?"

Ty hesitated for a moment, before shaking her head and inspecting the ground, "I got nothing."

She waited for the lecture about how she should have let the experienced hunters handle it instead of getting herself into this. She could already hear Dean's 'I told you so.' In fact, she was already planning her rebuttal when Sam said, "It's okay. We've got two more nights."

"It's not my fault! I...what?" Ty paused, feeling like maybe she hadn't heard that accusatory remark quite correctly.

Sam smiled and gestured for her to walk with them towards the car, "Let's get some sleep. We'll come back tomorrow."

Ty fell in step with the brothers as they followed the flock of people heading for the exit, but couldn't help but glance suspiciously at Dean as she did so. He was being unusually quiet. He caught her looking and, his face neutral, asked, "What?"

"Nothing. I was just kind of expecting an 'I told you so.'" she admitted.

Dean shrugged, "Well, I kind of thought it over while you were working the carnie scene and I figure maybe you're right, this is our best bet."

Ty stopped in her tracks, eyes wide and mouth agape. She couldn't have heard that right.

"Did you just say what I think you just said?" she asked, laughing at the ridiculousness of it, "Did you just admit that I was right?"

Dean rolled his eyes and smiled a self-deprecating smile, "Yeah, whatever. Let's just get out of here."

Ty was still a little stunned so when Dean starting walking towards the car again, she hung back a little with Sam, "I'm not over-exaggerating, right? That was kind of amazing?"

"Dean sort of admitting he was wrong? And to a girl? Yeah." Sam agreed with a grin.

Ty noticed that it was the same sort of childish grin that Sam had sported in the car when he'd revealed that Dean liked her. She decided not to give him any more fuel to tease Dean with and dropped the topic. The rest of the walk to the car and the subsequent ride to the motel was pretty quiet. Ty was somewhat grateful. She felt that she needed the quiet time to prepare for the next day. Because Ty was just not a very patient person. She wanted to beat these carnies and she wanted to do it sooner rather than later. So, she needed a new strategy since her innocent eavesdropping and chatting up technique had failed so spectacularly.

Ty fell asleep trying to figure out what she had done wrong and what she could do differently, but as her weariness consumed her, she still didn't know exactly what to change. When she woke in the morning, she decided to go downstairs and find the boys. Maybe they would have some ideas since, much as she hated to admit it, they were experienced at this and she was not. She couldn't afford to be proud about this. They only had two days left before the carnival and their suspects disappeared and the only thing they'd have to look for would be a corpse.

Ty took a quick shower and cursed loudly when she realized that her necklace was still hanging off the side of a tent somewhere in the carnival. She hoped no one had messed with it and decided to go look for it when she got a chance.

'_And it seemed like such a good idea at the time_.' Ty though ruefully as she pulled her clothes on, '_Totally what Veronica Mars would have done_.'

Ty took the stairs down to the ground level two at a time. She knew that the carnival wasn't open yet, but she really didn't want to waste any more time. One-third of their window of opportunity was already gone.

Ty's watch informed her that it was a little after nine thirty and that Dean was probably not conscious yet, but she figured that Sam might be so she went ahead and knocked on the door that Sam had emerged out of the day before.

Sure enough, a moment later Sam opened the door, already dressed and very much awake, "Hey."

"Hey." Ty replied, pushing past him into the room, "I need to talk to you."

Ty noticed Dean still sprawled out on his bed. He was lying on his stomach and had what looked like a death grip on his pillow. Half of his covers were kicked off, revealing the fact that he slept in a T-shirt and boxers. Ty couldn't help but mentally voice her approval, but quickly pushed the distraction Dean presented out of her head and focused instead on the job.

"So...uh...what's up?" Sam asked, moving back over to his own bed where his laptop was sitting open.

"I need a new game plan, Sam. I figured we could put our heads together and figure out a way to get these guys to crack. I mean, for all we know, they could already have taken a kid." Ty spilled her anxieties.

Dean groaned and stirred before Sam could reply. Ty and Sam both watched as Dean kicked at his covers and rolled over, blinking blearily at them, "Wha...?"

"Morning, Dean." Sam said, sending a smile in Ty's direction at Dean's grogginess, "Ty wanted to brainstorm with us."

"Coffee." Dean grunted in reply, rubbing his eyes and yawning widely.

Ty wrinkled her nose in disgust at the request, but Sam appeared to think it was a fairly good idea because he nodded in agreement. He grabbed the room key and a wallet off the desk and headed for the door, "Ty, you want some?"

"Definitely not." Ty said, "Coffee's gross."

Sam shrugged and disappeared out the door. Meanwhile, Dean grunted again and shook his head, "No, coffee good."

Ty rolled her eyes. Moving over to Sam's computer, she couldn't resist glancing at the screen to see what he'd been up to. The inbox of an e-mail account was displayed on the screen. Ty decided any further snooping would be an invasion of privacy and turned her attention back to Dean. He was still working up the energy to get out of bed, yawning, stretching and scratching his head. Despite herself, the traitorous thought emerged in her brain that Dean was incredibly cute in the morning with his hair all messed up. Then an even more traitorous thought of how Dean had looked the morning after that night she had spent with him snuck in and Ty had to quickly think of something else.

"Well, this is awkward." Dean commented.

"Yeah." Ty agreed with a dry laugh at how understated that comment was.

Silence followed her laugh, making her feel extremely uncomfortable. Dean got out of bed and started digging through a duffel bag and pulling out clothes.

"So," Dean began, startling Ty with his voice after the silence, "what is it about him?"

"What?" Ty asked before she realized what Dean was talking about.

Dean glanced at her briefly, but didn't meet her eyes. His voice sounded mostly casual, but Ty was convinced of the bitterness he was hiding, "My brother. What is it about him?"

For a second, Ty wondered why she was doing this to Dean, but then she recalled what an ass he was and replied, "Dean Winchester, are you jealous?"

Dean straightened and turned around. Ty blinked in surprise at the look on his face. He looked furious.

"Me?" he asked, forcing a grin, "What do I care?"

"Dean..." Ty began, feeling like maybe she should give up this whole jealousy thing before things got any worse.

"I mean," Dean interrupted, "if Sam wants sloppy seconds, fine."

"You asshole!" Ty exclaimed, scarcely able to believe he had actually just said that.

"That's me, sweetheart." Dean agreed with that same forced grin, "But you knew that when you came home with me. So, don't act all innocent now. And don't you dare hurt my little brother. He's been through enough as it is."

Ty's hands hurt from being curled into such tight fists. She was amazed she hadn't thrown a punch yet. It was difficult to get enough control on herself to even speak and when she did, it was practically a growl, "Don't you dare."

"Dare what, princess?" Dean pushed.

"God damn it, Dean!" Ty exclaimed, "Don't you dare act like I used you. That's not what it was and we both know it, you ass. And the only reason I..."

"Hey, guys, I..." Sam interrupted as he walked in the door. Taking in the scene, he froze in the doorway with the coffee in his hands, "Oops."

"I'm taking a shower." Dean announced, stalking into the bathroom and slamming the door.

Ty growled angrily at the closed door and wished she had something to throw at it. As it was, she knew she needed to calm down. Getting angry and fighting with Dean was not helping anything. She needed to clear her head. So, she bolted past Sam out the door and started jogging around the block. She hated jogging, but a better idea wasn't forthcoming and it did effectively put distance between herself and Dean, which is what she really needed.

She was still shocked that Dean had said what he did. She was sure he said just to piss her off, but it still took some gall to actually say that to her. And here she'd thought that they actually liked each other. Hell, it wasn't like it was that long ago that they'd been comparing favorite Zeppelin songs. What the hell happened?

'_Oh, yeah. That's right. Dean's a moron!_'

Okay, so maybe trying to make him jealous hadn't been such a great idea. But he'd brought it on himself! It wasn't her fault that he was such a jerk. Besides, he'd given her the idea in the first place by making assumptions. God, if he wasn't so pretty he wouldn't get away with so much crap.

"Drop dead gorgeous, likes classic rock and drives an awesome car, I should have known he was too good to be true." Ty chastised herself under her breath, "God, I'd have better luck with the damn gypsy."

Ty slowed her angry jogging momentarily as that thought fully sank in.

'_Nah, terrible idea. That'll never work_.' she told herself and picked up her speed again.

She was almost back to the motel again, so she slowed down so that she could catch her breath before facing the boys. She knocked when she reached their door and Sam let her in. Dean was fully dressed, sipping his coffee and pointedly ignoring her when she walked in. Whatever, she didn't care.

"So, any ideas on how to get something out of the carnies?" Ty asked.

Sam opened his mouth to respond when Dean said, "Why don't you try seducing tall, dark and creepy?"

"Gee, great idea, Moody McSnarky Comments." Ty snapped sarcastically.

"Actually...," Sam said slowly as he considered Dean's suggestion.

Ty's eyes widened. They couldn't possibly be seriously suggesting the same thing that she had immediately dismissed as a bad idea not five minutes earlier while jogging, "No, no way. That's a terrible idea. I am so not gonna be able to pull that off."

"Well, not in that outfit." Dean remarked, looking skeptically down Ty's form.

"Hey," Ty protested, crossing her arms over her chest, "what's wrong with my outfit?"

"Nothing!" Sam answered before Dean could, defusing the argument before it could really get started, "I think what Dean is trying to say is that maybe a different look would help get Lel's attention. If he's interested, maybe he'll open up."

"This is stupid. Why don't we kidnap him instead and torture him until he talks?"

"Subtle." Dean scoffed.

"Shut up." Ty snapped.

"Guys," Sam pleaded, "can we focus?"

"Sure." Dean shrugged, "Okay, step one, let me see your clothes."

"What? Why?" Ty demanded.

"Because you said you can't pull this off, so you obviously need my help."

"Oh, that's right. 'Cause you're the expert on this kind of thing." Ty snorted.

"Of the three of us?" Dean asked, glancing between them, "Yeah, I'd say so."

Ty sighed at the hopelessness of talking to Dean. Dean apparently took that as consent because he headed for the door, pausing in the doorway and looking at them expectantly, "Come on. Let's go."

Ty glanced to Sam who just shook his head and shrugged. She sighed again before following them both upstairs to her room. This had to be the worst idea ever in this history of bad ideas. And she'd had some pretty bad ones herself. Like hooking up with Dean in the first place.

Dean waited impatiently for Ty to open the door, then wasted no time in digging through her suitcase. Ty almost protested, but knew it would be pointless. Instead, she settled for picking up each article of clothing Dean discarded and piling them on her bed.

"This'll work." Dean said, tossing something black in Ty's direction.

Ty humphed in annoyance when it hit her and snatched it before it hit the ground. It was the only skirt she owned. She looked from it to Dean incredulously, "Are you kidding? It's freaking cold out there!"

Dean shrugged as if to say that wasn't his problem.

"Get out of my stuff. I'll pick something out." Ty announced, pushing Dean aside.

"Hey." he protested when she shoved him, but Ty ignored him.

'_Okay, so he thinks I should wear the stupid skirt. Fine. But I'm wearing tights or I'll freeze. And a long sleeve shirt. And a jacket_.' Ty thought to herself as she grabbed some clothing, '_And I guess I'll wear my boots instead of sneakers. Sneakers aren't generally very sexy._'

Change of clothes bundled in her arms, Ty stomped into the bathroom and closed the door. Why was she even agreeing to this? It was just so stupid. Who cares if the Winchesters are supposedly experts? They were still just stupid boys.

"But damn it, what if it works?" she asked herself.

If there was even a chance that this could stop the bad guys, she had to give it a shot, didn't she?

"Son of a bitch."

Ty pulled on the new set of clothes and looked at herself in the mirror. She had settled on a white turtleneck to go with the black skirt, ash colored tights and black boots. She was still certain that this wouldn't work, but if it didn't she could always try something else regardless of what ridiculous outfit the boys had her wearing. It was like an undercover mission. It could be worse. At least they didn't want her to cozy up to the clown. Ty shuddered at the thought.

Stealing herself, she opened the door, "Okay, what do you think?"

Sam and Dean both looked up and Ty instantly regretted asking their opinion. She fidgeted and looked away, rubbing her arms self-consciously.

"You look great." Sam said with a smile.

"Yeah, not bad." Dean agreed with a casual shrug.

"Yeah, okay, so now what?" Ty asked, moving back over to her pile of stuff and pulling a jacket on.

"Well, how about we do some snooping before the gates open up. You know, just in case you seducing our carnie friend doesn't work." Dean said.

"Sounds good." Ty said, not letting the comment Dean had made that could be interpreted as lack of faith in her abilities to phase her because frankly she wasn't too sure about herself on this one either. It was nice to have a back up. Besides, she was glad for something to do to keep her busy.

An hour later, Ty was once again ready to strangle Dean Winchester. She'd cut off her own hair to do it if she had to. Wasn't there some kind of rule about snooping and not talking? Apparently, Dean had never heard of it. She had been trying her best to ignore him, speaking only to Sam, but it didn't seem to help. Luckily, the carnival was opening soon because seriously if she had to listen to one more minute of Dean yapping about clowns and contortionists, she was going to snap.

'_What did Sam put in that boy's coffee?_' she mused to herself as she moved further down the fence-line to look at the carnie trailers from a different angle.

So far all they had managed to see was some sort of gathering at Raina's camper. All efforts to overhear anything useful had been utterly unsuccessful, but maybe she'd get lucky and someone would blab something on their way back to the carnival grounds.

"Lel!"

Ty spotted Lel as another carnie she didn't recognize ran over to him, "Raina wants you to supervise the blonde today."

Lel nodded and a smirk played across his lips, as if at a private joke, and the other carnie echoed his expression. Ty frowned. Why did people keep doing that? First Raina and now these two. It was really getting old.

"Do you think she suspects anything yet?" the unknown carnie asked conversationally.

"Oh, she suspects," Lel nodded, "But she doesn't know anything yet. By the time she figures it out, it'll be much too late."

Ty had to bite her tongue to keep from growling in frustration. They were just so smug, thinking that she would never figure anything out. Just because so far they happened to be right didn't mean anything. She was going to kick their smug asses!

"Hey." Sam whispered, tapping her on the shoulder. He gestured back the way they'd come, "Let's go."

Ty nodded and followed the boys as they slunk back towards the car. They had parked on the block over just in case anyone recognized the car. They had just enough time now to go get something to eat that wasn't deep fried before the carnival opened. Ty had been adamant earlier that she wanted to be at the carnival as long as it was open. She did not want to give those creepy bastards the chance to take a kid while she was somewhere else doing something unimportant. Somewhere along the line this had become personal.

"Did you hear those mother..." Ty began angrily once they were a safe distance away.

"Yeah, we heard them." Dean interrupted, "You're right. They know."

"I don't make this shit up." Ty nodded.

Dean continued to frown, "This is a problem."

"What do you want to do?" Sam asked.

Ty blinked in confusion, "What can we do? I mean, we can't exactly charge in there guns blazing, can we?"

Dean just scowled and shoved his hands deep in his jacket pockets. Sam took over for him, "No, you're right, we can't. Stick to the plan for now, but be extra careful. This is probably going to turn into a rescue mission, not a preemptive strike. Keep an eye out and see if you can find out where they're keeping whatever it is."

"So, we're supposed to just let them take a kid?" Ty asked.

She didn't even like kids, but that didn't seem right.

"I don't think we have a choice." Sam admitted.

Ty kicked at the ground viciously, "This sucks!"

She piled into the car with Sam and Dean. Neither of them ventured a comment. No one was happy about the situation; complaining about it wasn't going to help anything. So they drove solemnly over to the lot across from the carnival and once again parked in the back before trooping towards the gates. Before reaching the entrance, Ty hung back, letting Sam and Dean enter before her. She noticed them both glance back at her, but they didn't say anything. They really didn't need to. She hadn't known them long, but she could already read their expressions. An identical 'be careful' was plastered on each boy's face.

When Ty approached the gate, the carnie at the ticket booth was the same one that Ty had first spoken to before Lel showed up the day before, "Back again, runaway?"

"Yep." Ty nodded, forcing a smile that she hoped wasn't too terribly bitter, "Couldn't keep away."

"Lel was hoping that would be the case. He's waiting for you at the carousel." the carnie reported, waving her through.

"Thanks." Ty nodded, slipping past.

She could feel him watching her as she moved inside the gates and it felt like there were still eyes on her even when she moved well into the carnival grounds where that particular carnie couldn't possibly see her. She tried to ignore the feeling, but it was making her feel jumpy. By the time she reached the carousel, she was really on edge. Which was really not helping her get her head in the game, especially considering she was supposed to be seducing Lel today.

'_Which is still a terrible idea. What the hell am I supposed to say?_' Ty asked herself, '_I should just forget this whole angle and work with the guys on taking this place apart. I still think we'd have more luck if we just lured one away from the herd and leaned on him. That good cop, bad cop stuff always has them spilling their guts in no time in the movies._'

Ty had just about talked herself into pulling a 180 and marching back out front to find the guys when she realized that it was too late to back out now anyway because Lel had spotted her. He waved and she raised her hand half-heartedly in response, pausing in mid-stride when she saw that he was checking her out. It took her a second to remind herself that was part of the plan and that hopefully he liked what he saw. 'Cause if her whole negative self-image thing turned out to be more realistic than negative, now would not be a good time to find that out.

"Don't waste any time, do you?" Lel asked, grinning at her as she approached.

"Couldn't keep away." Ty repeated, this time hoping for undertones of 'because I find you just so gosh-darn sexy, you hunk of carnie, you.'

Lel's eyes wandered over her attire once again, "You look..."

'_Amazing. Great. Fantastic. Anything but interesting. Do **not** say interesting_.' Ty pleaded mentally.

"...nice." Lel finished finally.

Ty couldn't help herself. She raised an eyebrow and drawled, "Nice? That the best you got? A girl's feelings could get hurt over something like that."

"My apologies." Lel immediately replied, not missing a beat and making Ty wonder if maybe he was playing her instead of the other way around, "Would you prefer...amazing? Wonderful? Delectable?"

"I'll pass on the last one. Too Hannibal Lecter. No, I think I'd like gorgeous but tasteful." Ty answered.

"Whatever the lady the wants." Lel acquiesced with a bow.

"Oh, I think I'll like it here."

"Not too fast. You're still interviewing. We haven't made any decisions yet."

Ty fought desperately not to roll her eyes or do anything else to ruin the guise of sincerity and forced out, "Well, you let me know if there's anything I can do to help my case."

Lel took the bait with an interested expression and raised eyebrows, "Anything?"

Ty felt slightly nauseous, but ignored it. Instead placing her hands on her hips and raising her own eyebrows, "Try me."

Lel took a step closer to her, apparently oblivious to the bubble Ty liked to believe outlined her personal space. Ty had to fight her instincts once again and force herself not to move. Instead she just looked up at the tall, dark carnie challengingly and thought particularly nasty things about him involving her boots meeting parts of his anatomy.

The moment lasted long enough for Ty to feel extremely uncomfortable before Lel grinned, "Well, I suppose you're up to the next test then."

"Point me at it."

Lel's hands moved to Ty's arms, turning her so that she faced the busiest section of the carnival at this hour of the day. Ty tried not to shudder as she found herself looking directly at the petting zoo, swarming with small children.

"The petting zoo?" she asked, hoping maybe she was mistaken.

"I hope you like goats." Lel nodded, "Why? Is there a problem?"

"Nope." Ty replied, resigning herself to the task, "Everything's peachy."

"Good." Lel said, taking her hand and leading her towards the pen.

Ty viewed the approaching small children and barnyard animals with growing skepticism as she drew closer, glad that Lel was ahead of her and couldn't see the look she was sure had made its way to her features. Despite the fact that this was probably the perfect spot for her to be in order to both keep an eye on as many kids as possible and look for whatever wolfish creature they might be keeping tucked away, she was still less than thrilled at the prospect of supervising small children at all much less around animals.

'_Fuck, there is karma_.'

Lel glanced back at her and apparently caught a glimpse of her expression before she could hide it. Luckily, he misinterpreted it, "Don't worry. You're with me today."

"Oh, that's a relief." Ty said, praying that didn't come out as sarcastic as she'd thought it.

Once again luck seemed to be with her because Lel didn't seem to notice. He rambled on about tickets and cups of goat chow that Ty tuned out. This was going to be the longest freaking day ever.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I am the worst writer ever. I haven't updated in what? Months? Yeah, I hate me, too. Unfortunately, I've started working on my thesis so I have a lot of reading and writing to do to fill up my time. But anyway this is a special update. This is a very important and hopefully very creepy part of the story. Plus, I'm updating on my birthday. So, if you want, leave me a review as a birthday present and I promise I will try to keep updating as much as possible.

Chapter 16: Figure in Black

_What is this that stands before me  
Figure in black which points at me  
Turn 'round quick and start to run  
Find out I'm the chosen one  
Oh, no_

Big black shape with eyes of fire  
Telling people their desire  
Satan sitting there, he's smiling  
Watches those flames get higher and higher  
Oh, God--please help me  
Oh, no--no

Child cries out for its mother  
Mother screaming in the fire  
Satan points at me again  
Opens the door to push me in  
Oh, no  
Oh, God

Is it the end my friend  
Satan's coming 'round the bend  
People running 'cause they're scared  
You people better go and beware  
No, no  
Please, God, no

Hours later, Ty found herself no closer to collecting her Nancy Drew award or her license to seduce. Even though she'd managed to check out the trailer where the animals were housed at night under the pretense of getting more pellets for the kids to feed them, she'd found that the most likely place to house a pet werewolf was surprisingly werewolf free. Nor had she noticed any kids disappearing, but she was afraid that with as many as there were and the way they all kept running around, she wasn't entirely sure that she would notice if one had. Plus she was running out of innuendos to use in conversation with Lel and Dean's snickering every time he was in the vicinity was really driving her nuts. All in all, she was more than ready to call it a day even though she still had hours left to go before the carnival closed for the night. And while she wasn't going to allow herself to give up entirely, she did need to take a break, if just for a little while, no matter how guilty it made her feel.

"Lel?" Ty asked as sweetly as she could imagine.

"Yes, my lovely assistant?" Lel asked, turning his attention to her, that wide leering grin returning to his face.

"Is it okay if I take just a teeny tiny break?" Ty mentally gagged at how she sounded.

"Of course." Lel nodded, still grinning in that suspicious way that made Ty second-guess leaving him alone, "Take as long as you need."

"Thanks." Ty muttered, weaving her way past the children and animals to the exit.

She glanced back at Lel before closing the gate behind her, wondering for about the hundredth time in the past few minutes if it was such a good idea for her to abandon her post.

'_Although, it's not like me sitting around with the goats is going to keep them from doing anything._' she rationalized.

So, Ty struck out for the exit, planning on maybe going to sit by the Impala for a few minutes to clear her head.

"What's wrong?"

Ty jumped. She hadn't even noticed Dean approach, much less appear by her side, which was really getting old. You'd think she'd be used to it by now. She cursed herself and him for good measure under her breath before she responded, "I just need a breather."

"Get anything out of ugly?"

"Besides the creeps and an appreciation for dental hygiene?" Ty shook her head. She slowed for a second and glanced around before asking, "Where's Sam?"

"Finishing up our search of places that looked like promising spots to keep a werewolf. So far there's nothing out of the creepy, carnie ordinary. Maybe we're missing something. Maybe it's not a wolf." Dean mused.

"Great, so we're back to square one." Ty grumbled as she and Dean exited the grounds and headed into the parking lot.

"Not completely." Dean countered. He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket with a triumphant look on his face, "I got the contortionist's number."

Ty ignored the instant pang of jealousy, reminding herself that Dean was a jerk and that she didn't care anyway. Besides, there were more important things to worry about at the moment. So, she changed the subject, "Can we focus here? This isn't working. I feel like they're playing with us."

"Oh, they are." Dean nodded, pocketing the phone number, "That's kind of how bad guys get their jollies."

"So what do we do about it?" Ty demanded.

"Easy there, tiger. I thought you were worming your way into what's-his-name's creepy little heart."

They'd reached the Impala and Ty took the opportunity to lean back against it with a sigh, letting the car support most of her weight, "I'm trying."

Ty wearily thought once again about trying to reconcile with Dean. Fighting with him and fighting the bad guys at the same time was just so exhausting. But once again, Dean opened his mouth and Ty found herself finding the energy to do both.

"Hey, if you're not up to it, I can always try cozying up to Yeva." Dean offered with a smirk.

Without moving, Ty glanced up at Dean and coolly repeated, "Not up to it?"

Dean just shrugged, offering no apologies.

"Do you have any idea what I've been going through for the past two days?" Ty demanded.

"Some carnies leered at you, so what?"

The next thing Ty knew, her fist was flying towards Dean's face. She couldn't remember how it happened, but one second she was glaring at him and the next she was throwing a punch at his perfect face, intent on doing some damage. Unfortunately, the hunter's reflexes saved him from a nasty black eye, catching her fist before it could hit home. They stared at each other, equally surprised before Dean shattered the moment.

"You tried to hit me!" he exclaimed, eyes wide.

"You deserved it!" Ty snapped back, tearing her fist from his grip and stomping back towards the carnival.

"What the hell is your problem?" Dean yelled after her.

"You are!" Ty yelled back over her shoulder, '_So much for the breather_.'

If there weren't more pressing matters at hand, maybe Ty would be able to figure out how the hell things had gotten so screwed up with her and the Winchesters, but at the moment the job demanded her attention. And, since Dean had ruined what was supposed to be her break, she might as well get back to it.

'_God, why does he have to be such an ass?_' Ty wondered to herself, '_And why the hell do I still like him? Damn it! I should never have gotten involved with him. We don't even really know each other._'

Thinking about it any further would only add to her frustration, so Ty tried not to as she slipped back inside the carnival and hurried back to the petting zoo. But strangely, when she got there, another carnie was sitting there and not Lel.

"Where's Lel?" she asked with a frown.

The carnie smirked at her and Ty wondered if maybe they hadn't waited to use the moment she had turned her back on everything to make their move. A sinking feeling washed over her as that thought nestled firmly in her mind.

"He's waiting for you." the carnie finally answered, "Raina wants to see you again."

Ty shuddered at the thought of meeting the scary old gypsy again, but nodded and said, "Uh...thanks" before heading off to try and find her way back to the trailers. Besides, she still had a necklace to reclaim.

Twenty minutes later, she finally found the spot where she was sure she'd left her necklace hanging off the tent, but it was nowhere in sight. She swore colorfully before continuing on to face Raina. That necklace was important to her. It had dorky sentimental value. Today was just not her day.

"Did I murder puppies in a past life? Jesus, this karma train has got to stop somewhere." she muttered as she slunk past the disturbingly quiet trailers to the camper in the back where Raina dwelled like some kind of creepy witch in a cave in the hills.

Ty had a flash of the old gypsy in a pointy black hat stirring a large cauldron before she pulled her mind back to the present. She had to be on her toes around this witch. Ty was convinced that she wasn't putting anything past her, but that didn't mean she couldn't try.

Lel was waiting for her outside of Raina's trailer. He smiled when he saw her, a smile that could easily have doubled for a leer. Dean's words echoed in her ears about just having to put up with a few leers and anger coursed through her veins once again. She tried to shake it off, refusing to let Dean's comments throw her off her game at this critical juncture.

"There you are." Lel greeted her, "I was beginning to wonder what happened to you."

"Just got a little lost, I guess." Ty said, deciding to play up her angle one last time before Raina picked her apart, "What was I supposed to do without you to help me?"

She plastered another sickening smile on her face and leaned in towards Lel, looking up at him and trying to appear innocent and naive. Lel returned her gaze, stepping closer to her and for a second, Ty was terrified that he might actually try to kiss her, but Raina's voice pierced the exterior of the trailer, drawing both of their attention.

"Bring in the girl!" she called.

It bothered Ty that Raina somehow knew that she was there. Still, there was nothing for it, but to let Lel usher her inside. Raina was sitting in the same spot as before, bent over the table. It was dark in the trailer, but the light that managed to break through from outside reflected off her white hair and made it seem to glow. And when Raina looked up, her eyes also pierced the gloom to find Ty's own.

"You're still lying." Raina growled.

"I haven't said anything." Ty protested.

Raina grinned, "You will answer one question."

"Okay." Ty agreed, feeling anxious and wishing Lel wasn't between her and the door.

"Come closer." Raina instructed.

Ty shrugged and nervously took a few small steps towards the woman.

"Closer!" Raina demanded.

Ty jumped and closed the gap between her and the table where she had earlier had her palm read. Raina leaned a little further over the wooden surface towards her and asked quietly, "Why, little girl, are you here?"

"I told you..." Ty began.

"Quiet!" Raina snapped, then continued in the same cool, calculated tone as before, as if nothing had happened, "I wasn't finished. Why are you here with Winchesters?"

Ty's eyes widened, but before she could bolt for the door or even think of some kind of response, a sharp pain pierced her skull and her vision blurred. The last thing that occurred to her was the sensation of falling and the sound of Raina laughing.

Ty groaned, wondering how she her hangover of a few days earlier had followed her all the way to Colorado. Then she remembered her confrontation with Raina and her eyes flew open.

Ty scrambled instinctively away from whatever perceived threat might be lurking in the room before she realized that she was alone. The momentary relief from that realization didn't last for more than a heartbeat or two however because she also soon realized that she had no idea where she was or how much time had passed.

Ty scrambled to her feet, taking stock of her situation as quickly as her panicky mind would allow. She was in some kind of dimly lit room that was not much larger than a closet. But what really caught her attention was that wherever she was, there was music. And not just any kind of music, but the distinctive, spine-chilling carnival music that she so despised. Damn Ty was sure ready to get this job the hell over with and never look at another carnival again.

Ty's next thought was to somehow get in touch with the boys. She hurriedly searched for her phone but found that it was missing from her pocket along with her wallet. Even her watch was gone. For some reason, these missing items really made it hit home that someone had been rifling through her pockets, touching her, and obviously moving her to wherever she was currently. She shuddered at the thought that Lel had had his hands on her, but tried not to dwell on it. Even in her panicky state, she knew that she had to try and think of a way out. Because even if she was scared, and yes, she'd admit that she was, she would be damned if she turned into some kind of useless damsel in distress. The fact that the carnies had decided to reveal that they knew her purpose must mean that they were making their move or already had depending on how long she'd been out.

Ty traced the perimeter of her cell, banging periodically against the wall with her fists to see if there were possibly any weak points that maybe she could kick a hole through. Unfortunately, the place appeared pretty solid. After twice around the room, Ty gave up and sank back to the floor with a sigh. Try as she might to ignore it, the music was really starting to get to her, too. She wondered absently if this was some kind of torture tactic when suddenly it hit her. She knew exactly where she was! She'd heard this stupid music before. She had to be somewhere in the Fun House!

Ty didn't remember seeing any secret rooms in the Fun House the night before, but then again, that really hadn't been on the tour. Still, if she was inside the Fun House somewhere, she must only be separated from the people passing through it by a few walls at the most. Maybe if she was loud enough, someone would hear her.

"Hey!" she yelled as loud as she could, "Somebody! Hey!"

Ty waited, pressing her ear to the nearest wall to see if anyone responded. Nothing. So she tried again. And again. And again periodically for what must have been hours and her throat hurt from the yelling and from lack of water. She was starting to give up on the whole 'someone hearing her' plan when a noise drew her attention. One of the walls of her prison was moving. Ty hurriedly climbed to her feet, but before she could move towards the opening, a small form was shoved in and the wall was pushed back in place. Before it closed, Ty caught a quick glimpse of a mirror beyond it and decided she must be somewhere behind the mirror maze. Not that knowing that did her any good.

"What..." a confused adolescent voice asked, drawing Ty's attention to a young girl who had just been made her cell-mate, "What's going on? Where am I?"

"Hey." Ty said, trying not to startle the girl who had yet to realize she was there.

Despite her efforts, the girl jumped, whirling around from her inspection of the wall that had closed on her. She looked about nine or ten and had some of the biggest glasses on Ty had ever seen. She had mousy brown hair, baggy jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. She looked like one of the nerdy kids Ty had taken honors classes with in elementary school.

"Who are you? Is this part of the Fun House?" she demanded.

"I'm Ty and my guess would be no, it's definitely not." Ty answered, "They've been keeping me in here for a few hours now, I think."

"What?" the girl yelped, but a look of skepticism soon followed her outburst, "Wait a minute, didn't I see you working at the petting zoo? You work for them. This is a stupid joke. I want out of here."

Ty sighed again. Great, what to tell the kid who was too smart for her own good about what was going on? She couldn't tell her the truth. That would just get her a panicked kid stuck with her in a too small space, waiting for the carnies to do whatever to them. Then again, she really wasn't in the mood for pretending anymore and who knew, maybe the kid was some kind of genius and could help her find a way out. Besides, she'd always hated it when people patronized her when she was this kid's age. It would be hypocritical of her not to level with her.

"Look, kid..." Ty paused, "What's your name?"

"Liz." the girl answered slowly, still wary.

"Liz, you believe in ghosts and all that jazz?" Ty asked.

"What the heck does that have to do with anything? Let me out of here!" Liz shrieked.

"Hey, I would if I could, but I can't so shut up and listen to me!" Ty yelled over her.

Amazingly, Ty's outburst had the desired effect and Liz's mouth snapped shut. She blinked up at Ty expectantly if maybe a little shocked and scared.

"I get that you don't trust me, but we are in the middle of some god's honest messed-up shit right now and I need you to listen to me. I swear by anything and everything that I am telling you the truth. You seem like one of those pesky smart kids that can handle that."

"Hey." the girl protested, crossing her arms over chest.

Ty smiled a little at her reaction and explained, "It's okay, I was one, too. Now, you ready to listen to what I've got to tell you?"

"Yeah, I guess." the girl replied, clearly still not totally buying any of this.

"Hey, if you want to bang on the walls for a couple hours first, go right ahead, but I'm telling you, this isn't normal and that's not going to get you anywhere." Ty promised, gesturing at the walls.

The girl glanced at Ty levelly, measuring her seriousness. She did turn back to the wall and inspect her surroundings a bit before she reluctantly faced Ty again. Her eyes were wide behind her glasses and Ty surmised that it was beginning to sink in that this was not a normal part of the Fun House routine.

"What's going on here?" she asked, this time more quietly so Ty figured maybe she was ready to listen to her.

"Well, these carnies aren't just your average variety of creepy carnie people. Turns out they're some kind of gypsy witches who really like to sacrifice kids for some ungodly reason that we haven't quite figured out yet. I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth so it's super important that we find a way to get you out of here." the kid still looked skeptical so Ty added, "And I know it's you they want because you haven't been baptized yet, have you, Liz?"

"How do you...?" Liz began, startled.

Ty shrugged, "It's one of the requirements for the sacrifice."

Liz was silent for a second, staring at Ty as if she'd sprouted wings or something. Then she suddenly began screaming. Ty cringed and slapped her hands over her ears as she watched the girl whirl around and begin pounding against the walls with her fists. Ty didn't bother trying to stop her. Sooner or later, the kid was bound to come to the same realization that she had herself; they were stuck in here.

A good twenty minutes or so later by Ty's estimation, she had to admit that it was apparently going to be the later rather than the sooner.

'_Damn if the kid isn't persistent_.' she remarked to herself as she tried to ignore Liz's continued yelling for help.

She began humming to herself, tapping her foot and drumming her hands against the floor where she was sitting as she waited for the girl to get tired of yelling, trying to distract herself from her own anxieties as well as her growing hunger and thirst. The boys had to be looking for her by now, combing every inch of the carnival for some sign of her. And Liz's parents were undoubtedly looking for her, as well. So, it wasn't like no one was looking for them. In fact, Sam and Dean would probably catch wind of the fact that a child was missing and step up their own search. That was a little comforting at least, to know that the boys were out there. Still, she wasn't going to bank on them being able to find this secret room. She hadn't even known about it after a whole night working at this attraction. So, she would just have to think of a plan before the carnies did whatever they were planning whether it be feeding them to a werewolf or something equally sinister. At least, they didn't seem to be in any hurry at the moment.

Ty tried to guess at how much time had passed since she'd been knocked unconscious. It was impossible to know how long she'd been out though. She resolved to ask Liz when she'd gone into the Fun House, but first she'd have to wait for her to become slightly less hysterical. Which took at least another twenty minutes or so before Liz finally sank to the floor across from Ty.

"What are we going to do?" she asked quietly.

Ty was inwardly grateful that at least she wasn't crying, "Well, first I've got to know when you got here. What time was it when you came into the Fun House?"

Liz shook her head, "I'm not sure. Maybe around six. Why?"

Ty blinked in surprise at that. She'd been in this place for a whole day? Wait a minute! Assuming that Liz had been shoved into the room about an hour previous, that meant that there were only about four hours or so left until the carnival closed on the third and final day. Which meant that time was running out and fast.

"We've got less time than I thought." Ty admitted and she hurriedly climbed back to her feet.

Liz did the same, her face clearly showing her growing fear.

Ty paced for a second, trying to think of something. She took stock of everything that she and Liz had between them, wondering if anything might be useful for some kind of MacGyver-style escape. But since neither of them had anything sharp enough on them to cut them out of the box they were in, she wasn't coming up with anything.

"This was the side that opened, right?" Ty asked, placing her hand against one wall. Liz nodded, "Maybe with both of us we can wedge it open again. Help me push."

Ty wasn't convinced in the slightest that the added strength of an adolescent girl was going to help matters any, but she had to do something or they'd both go nuts.

Both girls put all their weight into pushing on the door, but they were sealed in tight. It was Liz who finally ended the fruitless effort, "This isn't working."

Ty sighed and stepped back, "You're right."

They were both silent for a moment before Liz asked, "So, if these carnies want to sacrifice me, what are you doing here?"

Ty couldn't stop herself; she laughed. What was she doing here?

'_Obviously not much good_.' she thought. Out loud she answered, "Well, I was trying to stop them."

Liz looked her over carefully, "So, you're like, what? A superhero?"

"Not exactly." Ty replied, a little indignant about having a kid point out her obvious failure, "Geez, kids these days. So cynical."

Liz rolled her eyes, "You sound like my dad."

"Yeah, mine, too." Ty realized, "I guess parents always think their kids are little smart asses, huh?"

Liz just shrugged. Ty thought to herself that at least she'd ended up trapped with a marginally cool kid. In fact, she kind of reminded her of herself at that age. Truth be told, Ty had been kind of a bookish, smart alec tomboy for most of her formative years. Well hell, she still kind of was. But the point was, at least she wasn't stuck in a Fun House with a bawling brat.

"Have a seat, Liz. I don't think we're going anywhere. At least, not until they send someone in to get us." Ty advised.

"So, we're just going to give up?" Liz demanded.

"Hell, no! We're...we're biding our time." Ty said with more confidence than she actually felt.

For the next few hours, Ty and Liz talked little, waiting anxiously for their captors. Ty learned that Liz was, in fact, turning eleven soon and that she actually despised carnivals, also, but that her parents had dragged her along when her little sister had insisted that they go. She seemed curious about Ty's role in all of this, but still not entirely convinced about the supernatural. Well, Ty was sure that would change before the night was over.

Suddenly, the wall that Liz was leaning against was pulled open. Ty and Liz both jumped to their feet, but no one entered. Ty warily approached the opening and poked her head out. Her own reflection looked back at her numerous times over, but no one else seemed to be anywhere around. Ty stepped out into the maze of mirrors and gestured for Liz to follow her. She wished fervently that she had some kind of weapon on her or even a flashlight to illuminate the dark interior of the Fun House, but of course she had no such luck. With most of the lights off, all she could do was inch her way through the dim and try not to run into her own reflection.

Ty slowly weaved her way through the maze with Liz close on her heels. Despite having navigated it before, she was still disoriented by all the reflections. She put one hand out to feel for the mirrors before moving forward.

Ty jumped as Liz screamed and whirled towards her. Liz was pointing at one of the mirrors, her whole body shaking, but Ty couldn't see anything unusual.

"What?" she demanded, "What did you see?"

Liz shook her head, but finally managed to say, "I don't know. It was like...like a shadow."

Ty felt like snapping "a shadow of what?" but decided that wouldn't help anything. She grabbed Liz's arm instead and pulled her further along into the maze.

A few seconds later, Liz screamed again and this time Ty saw something dark out of the corner of her eye, as well. She whipped around towards the dark shadow, when movement from the other side made her spin back the other way. This time when Ty turned, she saw something dark hovering in the mirror as if it was letting her see it. Unfortunately, with all the reflections in the dark, Ty couldn't be sure if it was actually right there in front of her or if it was just an illusion of the maze and it was actually behind her or even around the corner.

Wherever it was, the shadow suddenly flew at her. Ty covered her face and cringed, instinctively trying to make herself a smaller target. Red hot pain laced her arm and Ty screamed. When she lowered her arm from her face and looked, what appeared to be claw lacerations marred her skin.

"What is that thing?" Liz screeched.

"I don't know." Ty gasped, glancing around for any sign of where the shadow had gone. She grabbed Liz and shoved her ahead of her, "Run!"

Liz obeyed, taking off through the maze. Ty followed her, praying they would reach the exit soon.

Liz suddenly slid to an abrupt halt and Ty found that they'd reached a dead end. Cursing, Ty swiveled around to find black shadows falling upon them from what seemed to be every direction. Without thinking, Ty tried to block Liz with her body, but the shadow seemed to hit her and sent her flying into a mirror hard enough to shatter the glass. Ty hit the ground, gasping from the impact. She struggled to get up and her hands and knees crunched on broken glass, slicing her skin and making her cry out. And yet, she could barely hear her own cries because Liz was screaming at the top of her lungs. The shadow was tearing at her arms and legs and face, leaving trails of blood in its wake. Ty ignored the glass tearing at her palms and pushed herself back to her feet. She dove for Liz, tackling her to the ground in an attempt to shield her from any further attacks. The shadow tore at Ty's back, but Ty had a death grip on the kid and was not letting go. Until suddenly she was torn away by something she couldn't see, but that felt like someone was lifting her by the throat. She was thrown into another mirror, but this time she was held there, kicking her feet frantically as something unseen tightened its grip on her windpipe.

"Did you really think you could stop us?"

Raina's voice penetrated the dark even though Ty couldn't see her anywhere. Somehow, the gypsy's voice was even louder than Liz's resumed screams.

"There was never a chance that you could have stopped this. Not you or the Winchester brothers."

Ty was losing feeling in her limbs and her vision was blurring.

"But you tell them that the yellow-eyed demon sends his regards." Raina laughed.

Ty could barely hear any of it anymore though. Everything was far away except for her own pulse pounding in her ears. Then she couldn't even hear that anymore.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Okay, this chapter is a little shorter, but it's also a lot more emo, so I figured that was best. The song is CCR's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" Oh, and last chapter's was Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath" in case anyone was wondering. Everyone who has reviewed is a wonderful human being. If you would like to be a wonderful human being also, or feel that you need a few more brownie points because that karma train is chugging your way, feel free to hit the review button at the end of this chapter and pass some R&R goodness my way.

Chapter 17: Rain

_Someone told me long ago there's a calm before the storm,  
I know; its been comin' for some time.  
When its over, so they say, it'll rain a sunny day,  
I know; shinin' down like water._

I want to know, have you ever seen the rain?  
I want to know, have you ever seen the rain  
Comin' down on a sunny day?

Yesterday, and days before, sun is cold and rain is hard,  
I know; been that way for all my time.  
'til forever, on it goes through the circle, fast and slow,  
I know; it cant stop, I wonder.

I want to know, have you ever seen the rain?  
I want to know, have you ever seen the rain  
Comin' down on a sunny day?  
Yeah!  
I want to know, have you ever seen the rain?  
I want to know, have you ever seen the rain  
Comin' down on a sunny day?  


Ty's eyes fluttered open as she felt someone moving her, lifting her. The movement hurt; all her muscles felt cramped. But she couldn't cry out because no sound could make it past the knot of pain in her throat. She could feel a warm breeze blowing across her skin and she smelled grass, but neither sensation made any sense at the moment.

For a second, Ty thought she could still hear screams and laughter as she opened her eyes and the world slowly came into focus. But then Dean Winchester's face materialized above her and she realized she wasn't in the maze. Relief washed over her for a long moment, but then she remembered all that had happened and she couldn't remain in blissful ignorance any longer.

Ty wanted to demand what had happened, but still couldn't speak, so she struggled until Dean set her back on her feet.

"Hey, hey! It's okay! What..." Dean said, refusing to let her go completely, but Ty was ignoring him.

She scanned her surroundings frantically. She was outside somewhere; it was daylight. Sam was kneeling over something some yards away, but he blocked whatever it was from her vision. Ty's body bore the scars of the encounter in the maze, making it impossible for her to forget what had happened, but she needed answers. How had she gotten here? What had happened after she'd passed out?

Ty started towards Sam, needing to see whatever it was that held his attention, but Dean grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"No." he said simply, holding her gaze with his own steady expression.

"Dean..." Ty forced out, a little startled at the quiet, strangled sound that had almost nothing in common with her normal voice. She persisted anyway, "What...?"

Dean shook his head at her and began pulling her towards the Impala, parked off in the distance. Dean's stoicism and the lack of any explanations had Ty even more panicked. She allowed Dean to guide her towards the car for a second until his grip on her relaxed, then tore away, spinning around towards Sam and forcing her muscles to carry her towards him as fast as possible.

"Ty!" Dean yelled after her.

Sam stood as Ty approached, turning towards her and continuing to block whatever it was from her sight. His large, brown eyes were filled with sorrow and Ty felt an increasing sense of dread wash over her. She had a feeling she knew exactly what the boys were trying to hide from her, but she had to know for sure. So, she pushed Sam aside.

Lying on the grass before her was the most gruesome site she'd ever seen with her own eyes. Ty was not one to cry, but tears immediately welled up in her eyes as she looked on what was left of Liz. The sun caught on something metal, making it reflect brightly. It caught Ty's attention and she say that her necklace had been placed on the body. A strangled cry escaped her and she brought a hand to her mouth as nausea overwhelmed her. Her stomach cramped and she was thankful that there was nothing in her system for her to throw up.

Sam's arm encircled her shoulders, turning her away from the carnage and guiding her towards the car. Ty couldn't even think about asking her limbs to move, but somehow she found herself walking. She figured she must be in shock or something. Everything seemed to be in slow motion except for her thoughts. Her mind was racing.

'_They knew all along. They planned this. And they put my necklace there so that I would know it. God, I failed. I failed so badly. Jesus, what have I done?_'

Variations on this theme of thoughts chased themselves around in Ty's brain, interspersed with the image of Liz's body, an image she was sure would never leave her. The worst part was that they had just dumped her here with the body, left her for someone to find. She wasn't even important enough for them to kill. They'd just been playing with her.

A hand on her face forced Ty to come out of her thoughts for a moment. She looked up and found Dean examining her, his face etched with concern. Ty couldn't help it, his concern seemed to open a floodgate. She cried out again and tears started to pour down her cheeks. She reached out and fisted both her hands in Dean's shirt, leaving Sam's arms for Dean's. Dean didn't say a word, but held her close and let her bury her face in the shoulder of his jacket.

"Dean?" Sam asked, but Ty was barely paying attention.

"Start the car, Sammy." Dean replied quietly.

Sam complied and the Impala roared to life. Dean pulled open the rear door and gently eased Ty into the car. She refused to let go of him, so he shrugged to himself and slid in after her. Ty wasn't making much noise, but her body was still shuddering. Sam locked eyes with Dean in the rearview mirror, his eyebrows raised questioningly. Dean shook his head and turned his attention back to Ty. So, Sam went ahead and pulled the car back out on the road and headed back towards the motel.

"Dean?" Ty asked after a few long moments.

"Yeah, babe?"

"Music...something..." Ty pleaded, needing something to fill the silence.

"Sure thing." Dean nodded, "Sam? White tape in the glove box."

Sam dug the tape out and slipped it into the tape deck. A moment later, _Stairway to Heaven_ began to play. The soothing arpeggiated chords calmed Ty and her breathing slowed back to normal, the tremors slowly leaving her body. The physical and emotional havoc that had been wrought upon her body had swiftly drained her energy and despite the fact that she'd recently been revived from unconsciousness, she found herself on the verge of sleep even before the song ended. Ty raised her head slightly, to blink sleepily at Dean.

"It's okay." he assured her quietly, "I got you."

With that reassurance, Ty decided not to fight it and let herself fall asleep. Which, it turned out, was not the greatest of ideas because Ty was soon caught in a nightmare that was made so much worse because it had actually happened. Luckily, when the car stopped, it snapped her out of it and she awoke with a gasp, jerking upright. She looked around and when she realized that they were back at the motel, she bolted out of the car. She almost ran up the stairs to her room when she remembered that she didn't have the key anymore, so she headed for the boys' room instead. The door was locked, so she had to wait impatiently for them to open the door and they were both looking at her questioningly, but she wasn't ready to talk at all just yet. All she really wanted at the moment was to get the hell out of these clothes that served all too well as a reminder of recent events. So as soon as Sam unlocked the door, Ty tore into the room, straight to the bathroom and locked the door behind her.

In mere seconds, Ty was out of her clothes and standing under the shower, wishing that the water could cleanse the blood from her hands as easily as it did from her wounds. She tried not to think too hard about it because any time she dwelled on it too much, it threatened to undo her and yet there was no way she could push it far from her mind. When the water turned cold, she hardly noticed except that her body started to shake from the chill. Reluctantly, she turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. Numbly, she wrapped a towel around herself, but she wasn't ready to leave the room and face the Winchesters yet. She wished she was still unconscious actually. She just wanted to not think. And yet, she knew that she had to find a way to get past this. She couldn't hide in the bathroom forever.

'_So, you're like what? A superhero?_' Liz had asked her. She snorted disdainfully at herself, '_Hardly_.'

Looking at herself in the mirror, she hardly recognized herself. It wasn't anything physically different although the dark bruising around her throat was definitely not the usual.

'_How did I ever think that I was cut out for this?_' she asked her reflection.

Her reflection offered no answers, just blinked blindly back at her. Sighing, she opened a cabinet to look for a first aid kit and found a dusty, little one under the sink. Sitting on the toilet, she began to bandage her wounds. Through the door she could hear raised voices as the Winchesters argued. She paused, tilting her head towards the door to listen.

"We've got to know what happened to her, Sam!" Dean was yelling.

"It's too soon, Dean. You can't..." Sam argued.

"No, Sam. What I can't do is let another person pull a Sam and start blaming themselves for something like this. Besides, we don't have time. They pulled off the sacrifice, so now we'd better haul ass to Stull before whatever they're trying to do happens."

There was a long pause before Sam replied, "Let me talk to her before you start interrogating."

"Sam, I wasn't going..." Dean protested.

"Dean!" Sam interrupted pointedly.

Ty sighed, knowing that it was only a matter of moments before Sam knocked on the door. Both boys had a point: Sam was definitely right that it was too soon, too fresh in her mind for her to be able to go through it all again without it killing her, but Dean was also right about them not having time to wait. The knock she'd been dreading sounded and Ty shrank back from the door as if there were something monstrous on the other side.

"Ty," Sam called through, "are you okay?"

Ty almost choked as a laugh tried to escape her at the question. Was she okay? Was he kidding?

"Dude." she heard Dean chastise, apparently thinking the same thing that she was.

"Okay, stupid question." Sam admitted to both of them, "Hey, we brought all your stuff down here. Let me get you some clothes, okay?"

Ty didn't bother to try and respond since there was no way he would hear her through the door at the moment anyway. Her throat was still too tender to talk above a whisper. So she waited until Sam knocked again, then tentatively unlocked the door and opened it a tiny bit so that he could pass the clothes through before closing it quickly again. Sam had grabbed her a pair of jeans, a plain long-sleeve shirt and her Led Zeppelin hooded sweatshirt along with fresh undergarments and a pair of socks. Normally, Ty would have been rather disturbed by either of the boys going through her undergarments, but at the moment it was the least of her worries. Ty pulled the clothes on, hissing slightly as the movement and the material bothered the slash marks on her back and arm as well as the cuts on her hands and knees from the glass. Now that the shock was leaving her, all of the cuts were starting to sting and yet she couldn't help but feel that she deserved the pain. Besides, how could she complain? She, at least, was still alive.

Once she was dressed, Ty slowly moved back to the door and opened it. When she walked out of the bathroom, both Winchester brothers looked up. Sam was sitting on the end of one of the beds and Dean was standing by the window. Identical looks of concern graced their features as they looked at her. Ty ducked her head to avoid meeting either's gaze. She wished they wouldn't look at her like that. It just made her feel more guilty.

"Uh...water! You want some water?" Dean asked, not waiting for a response, but springing to the task.

He quickly dug a water bottle out of one of their bags and handed it to her. Ty's body desperately wanted the liquid, but she paused, just holding it. It was hard to find the initiative to function when everything in her brain reminded her of how all that she had tried had ended in failure.

"Ty...?" Sam ventured, standing up and moving over to her. Ty made the mistake of looking up and catching his sad eyes. He offered her a sympathetic smile, "I know this is hard, but we need you to tell us what happened."

Ty tore her eyes away, looking around the room as if looking for an escape. And yet she knew that she couldn't run away from this. She had to tell them. She had to tell them everything because it might be important in stopping whatever was about to happen. There was no avoiding it because even though she'd failed Liz, maybe she could help the Winchesters save someone else. So rather than running, she simply retreated to one of the beds, sitting down and pulling her legs in towards her body. It hurt the cuts on her knees to bend them, but she ignored the pain, wrapping her arms around her bent legs and momentarily hiding her face in the denim of her jeans.

"Ty..." Sam began again.

Ty looked up, stopping whatever he was about to say with her eyes, "I know, Sam."

Sam nodded slowly and carefully came to sit near her, far enough away that he was not touching her at all, but close enough to offer his support. Dean still stood on the other end of the room, silent, neutral.

Ty took as deep a breath as she could get past her damaged windpipe before she launched into her explanation, "When I went back to the petting zoo, they told me that Raina wanted to see me again and that Lel was waiting for me there. I went to the trailer and Raina...she knew I was here with you two. She knew your name. Lel must have hit me or something, because the next thing I remember after that was waking up in a dark room. I was there for a long time before anything happened. Then, they pushed a girl in with me."

Ty paused, the memory of Liz alive juxtaposing with the memory of her remains in her mind. She shook her head and continued, "We tried to find a way out, but there wasn't one. We were stuck until they decided to let us out. When we got out of the room, we were in the mirror maze in the Fun House. That's when this...this thing attacked us."

After a long pause, Dean prompted, "What did it look like?"

Sam shot him a dirty look, but Ty didn't notice. She was staring at her knees, "All we could see was a shadow. It clawed at us. I tried..."

Ty choked on her words and tears threatened to spill from her eyes again. She took a breath and fought them back, "I heard Raina's voice. She said to tell you something."

"What?" Sam asked.

Ty looked up for the first time since she began her story, "She said to tell you that the yellow-eyed demon sends his regards."

Sam and Dean both stiffened and exchanged worried glances. Ty waited, but neither of them said anything so she sighed and finished, "Then, I must have passed out. I don't remember anything else before you found me."

"Ty, you've been missing for three days." Sam said, watching her carefully for her reaction, "We couldn't find you anywhere and then the carnival disappeared overnight. The only reason we found you is that someone turned your phone on and left it with you."

Sam pulled her phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. Ty took it, but stared at it like she wasn't exactly sure what it was or what it had to do with her. She had kind of been hoping that telling the boys about what had happened would make her feel better somehow, but she still just felt numb and broken.

"Sam, can I talk to you?" Dean asked, already heading out the door before Sam could answer.

"We'll just be outside." Sam said, giving Ty one more long, concerned look before rising and following his brother out of the room.

Ty knew what they would be talking about: her, the demon, what to do next. Part of her couldn't care less and was still absorbed with her own problems, but for the sake of distraction, she stood and tip-toed to the door, pressing her ear against it and listening.

"What do you think?" Dean asked.

"About what? Her? She's devastated, Dean. What she saw, what happened, it destroyed her." Sam replied.

Ty winced at that blunt description of herself, but couldn't deny it either.

"I can see that." Dean snapped, "I meant about the yellow-eyed demon."

"I don't know, man. If that's who they were sacrificing to, something big is going on."

"Maybe we should call Dad." Dean proposed.

"No!" Sam quickly protested, "Dad wants to cut us out, fine. He can be on his own."

"So what, Sammy? You got any bright ideas on who else will know what the heck is going on?" Dean demanded.

There was a long pause before Sam finally answered, "We've got to go to Stull, right?"

"Yeah, I imagine." Dean agreed, sounding puzzled.

"Missouri's only a few minutes from there." Sam pointed out, "She helped Dad with the demon before."

Dean groaned, "Sam."

"What?" Sam asked.

"Really? Missouri?"

"Oh, you just don't want to go because she can read your mind." Sam teased.

"Yeah, Sam. That's exactly why I don't want to go." Dean whole-heartedly agreed.

The boys were silent for another long moment before Sam said, "What about Ty?"

Ty could almost feel them looking through the door at her.

"Nothing we say to her is going to change what happened." Sam continued, "Maybe we should take her home."

Ty thought about that. Did she want to go home? Give up? She wandered away from the door and back to the bed where she'd been sitting before and collapsed onto it. Maybe that would be for the best. Apparently, she wasn't cut out for this so maybe she should just get back to her old life before anyone else got hurt. Especially the boys. She didn't think she could live with herself if somehow she got the boys hurt or worse, too.

"Don't even think it."

Ty jumped and would have screamed if her throat wasn't so bad. Standing to her left at the foot of the bed was a shade of the little girl whose life she had just lost. Ty scrambled backwards until she hit the headboard and the wall.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Liz assured her, sounding fairly amused.

"You...I..." Ty stammered.

"Yeah, I died." Liz agreed.

"You seem strangely comfortable with that." Ty managed to get out.

Liz smiled fleetingly. She looked just like she had before the shadows had attacked except that Ty could see through her, "Well, it's not like I have a say in it."

Ty just shook her head, still hardly believing what she was seeing.

"It's not all your fault, you know." Liz added, stuffing her hands in the pouch of her hoodie, "You tried to save me."

"Tried and failed." Ty argued.

"But you tried." Liz insisted, "And you can't give up now."

Just then the door knob started to turn. Liz turned to look at it and held up her hand. The door clicked shut again and the deadbolt slid into place.

"Wait a minute, boys." she muttered, before turning back to Ty. She cocked her head and asked, "Cool, huh?"

"Hold on." Ty finally got some control over herself, "What are you doing here, Liz?"

Liz suddenly looked more serious, "I had a violent death and my murderers got away. You're the ghost person. Doesn't that make me ghost material?" Ty didn't answer, so Liz continued, "Plus, it's hard to rest when someone keeps punishing themselves with my memory."

"But..." Ty began.

"I'm dead." Liz interrupted, "You can't do anything about that now. What you can do is stop these guys from doing whatever they used me for. Then, maybe, I can go."

The boys were pounding on the door and calling her name. Ty glanced towards the door then back at Liz, "Are you haunting me?"

Liz shrugged, rocking back and forth on her feet, "I don't know. I guess."

"Well, that's not going to work." Ty protested, glancing towards the door as the pounding of fists was replaced with the slam of a body against the stubborn barrier, "The boys..."

Liz laughed shortly and it occurred to Ty that this was the first time she had heard her laugh. It bothered her that the experience was post mortem.

"Promise you won't give up and I'll keep out of the way." Liz offered.

Ty paused to consider that bargain. The girl she had gotten killed wanted her to keep hunting even after she had screwed up. Maybe she should. She had to make things right by Liz after all. Besides, if she gave up and went home, that would be just what the carnies wanted. That thought, along with Liz's encouragement, stirred her resolve.

"You're sure you want me to do this? The boys could..." Ty still had to make sure, though.

Liz nodded firmly, "I don't know those guys. And, yeah, I might not know much about you, but I know you. You're the one who should..."

Liz paused, her face scrunched up as she tried to think of the word.

"Avenge?" Ty offered.

"Yeah!" Liz agreed brightly, "You're the one who should avenge me."

With that final prompting, Ty found herself throwing herself back into the thick of things, "Okay." she nodded, "I promise."

Liz smiled and her image flickered, dissolving into the air. As she dissipated, the door burst open just as Dean was throwing his shoulder into it again to break it down. He fell through the threshold, tumbling to the floor. Ty swore she heard a girlish giggle and couldn't help the small smile that fought its way through to her features as she stood.

Dean scrambled to his feet, a gun almost instantly in hand, looking frantically around the room, "What the hell happened?"

Sam was soon at his back, also holding a gun and scanning the room for any intruders. Ty held up her hands and shook her head at them, "It's okay. I'm alright. Everything's fine."

Sam looked confused, but he returned the weapon to the small of his back. Dean hesitated, looking skeptically at Ty before slowly lowering his gun and then finally holstering it.

Ty wasn't sure what exactly had just happened to her, but everything was suddenly different. It was like the world was colored differently. Shades of blue had suddenly gotten lighter, the contrast sharper. The sorrow, grief, and regret in her soul were still there, but it was now fuel for something else rather than a tidal wave smothering her. It was kind of ironic considering it was all on account of a kid and she didn't even like kids.

'_Well, maybe this one was okay_.' she admitted, wondering absently if Liz could hear that thought since apparently she was tuned in to all of her previous negative ones concerning her.

"You sure you're okay?" Dean asked slowly, looking at her like something was off.

And Ty supposed something was. It wasn't normal to go from utterly destroyed to somewhat okay in a matter of moments. But being visited by the ghost of a recently deceased ten-year-old wasn't normal either.

Rather than answer him, Ty looked around the room, noticing now that all of her stuff from upstairs was indeed scattered around. She figured after she'd gone missing, they'd decided just to bring it in here rather than continuing paying for an extra room. She began to gather her things before glancing over her shoulder at the mystified brothers, "Forget about me. Are we going to Stull or what?"


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: I know these chapters are probably a little boring because they've been building up to the next spooky encounter for awhile. Bear with me, I've got some great characters making an appearance and much more bad times in store for my character. Man, I'm meaner to me than anybody I know! I hope everybody likes hurt!Ty. Dean seems to anyway, so that's okay. P.S. If any of you have read my other story 'Who's Got You?,' I'm thinking of writing a sequel. All in favor, say aye. If you haven't read it, I shamelessly endorse my own work. And speaking of shameless endorsements (we call that a segway in the trade) if you're looking for some more fanfic to read, my partner in crime just started a fic called Cold As Ice that's pretty hilarious and interesting. Well, Happy Jensen Day everyone and in the spirit of this most blessed day (Jensen's birthday, if you didn't know), drop me a review!

Chapter Eighteen: My Conscience

_If I could smoke a cigarette right now I would  
Rip out of my skin commit the sins oh I could  
If I could break a heart and throw it all away for just one night  
My conscience wouldn't care if I just went ahead and wrecked my life_

(chorus) I wanna be destructive  
Trash everything in sight  
Beat the devil at his game  
Abuse myself all night  
I wanna bitch the world out  
One loud aching scream  
Don't want anybody wanting anything from me

I'm sick of being perfect  
With a perfect little smile  
Pick a fight with danger  
Be a stranger for myself for a while  
Wanna come unraveled  
Have it out with my soul  
I'm tired of all the voices telling me which way to go  
I wish you'd silence your opinion that's the last thing that i want to know

(chorus)

I feel better when I'm sane  
But now I wanna feel no pain  
I'm just really sick of thinking  
I just wanna be destructive

(chorus) 

Dean looked utterly confused. The expression on his face was actually pretty priceless, Ty thought as she continued to gather her things.

"Okay, wait a minute. What the hell just happened?" Dean demanded.

Ty slowly straightened and turned to face Dean. She raised an eyebrow questioningly at him. Apparently, her lack of outward emotion was making Dean even more upset because he continued to yell and gesture wildly, "What the hell was that with the door? And now you're all... Just, what the hell?"

Sam put a hand on Dean's shoulder to try and calm him down, but Dean shrugged it off with a quick glare back at his brother. His eyes then returned to Ty, demanding that she explain everything. Something told Ty that she shouldn't tell the boys about Liz's ghost. For some reason she felt that it would be bad if they knew, that they might try to get rid of her and that was not something she wanted to happen. She wanted Liz to pass over because things had been resolved, not because someone had salted and burned her remains. So, Ty quickly thought of a lie instead and tried not to let the guilt of it add to the pit of anguish that still lingered somewhere inside her.

"Jesus, chill out, Dean." she said, instead, "The door must have stuck or something. I tried to say something, but I guess you couldn't hear me."

She gestured at her still damaged throat and saw Dean's eyes follow her hand to the injury. His expression darkened for a second before it disappeared, gone before Ty could even attempt to unravel what it meant. It didn't feel good to lie to them and Ty was beginning to feel guilty about it despite herself, so she distracted herself by retrieving the water that Dean had offered her earlier. The second the cool liquid hit her mouth, her senses seem to kick back into gear, demanding more. She downed the whole bottle in almost one gulp.

"Uh...Ty?" Sam ventured as she tossed the empty water bottle into the trash bin, "Are you sure you want to go with us to Stull?"

Ty nodded, "Positive, so let's get going."

"It's okay if you're not up to it." Sam persisted, "You've been through a lot. Dean and I can do this."

"Sam," Ty insisted, giving him a level stare "stop trying to talk me out of it. I owe this to Liz."

She hadn't meant to say that. It had just sort of slipped out. But it seemed to work, because Sam nodded like he understood completely and even Dean seemed resolved to her coming along since he turned and began gathering his own belongings.

As they packed up their things and moved them to the car, Ty found herself thinking that things had changed. The dynamic between her and the Winchesters had shifted so far from where it had started in such a short time that she found herself wishing that maybe she could wipe the slate clean and start again. As evidenced by the silence that pervaded their packing, things had gotten awkward. Both boys seemed to feel like she was something fragile at the moment that they were afraid to mess with. Plus, there was still the mix-up with Dean about her feelings for Sam. Much as she hated to even think it, maybe a confession was in order. How else were they going to get past this if they didn't have some kind of excruciatingly girly talk about feelings?

'_Well, who know? Maybe at the end we can all hug_.' Ty consoled herself, because even if she wasn't really into Sam that way, the boy was still hot and there was no way she would turn down the opportunity to be in the middle of that sandwich.

Ty paused for a second as she entertained that fantasy, but then put it from her mind and focused on how to go about squaring things with the boys. It would be much too embarrassing to talk to them both at once. Besides, she knew she would have to take a different approach with Dean than with Sam. She was sure that Sam would be easy to talk to and that he would understand. Dean, on the other hand, was another matter all together.

"Hey, I'm going to go take the key back to the clerk." Sam announced, before heading out the door.

'_Guess this is as good a chance as any_.' Ty remarked to herself, seeing as she was now conveniently alone with Dean. The older Winchester was currently sweeping the room a final time for any loose items they may have forgotten to pack. His back was to her, which made it a little easier for Ty to broach the subject, "Hey, Dean?"

"Yeah?" he asked as he peeked under the furthest bed.

"Can I talk to you?"

"Sure." Dean remarked casually, moving on to the next bed.

Ty sighed. Trust Dean to make her have to spell everything out, "No, Dean. I mean _talk_ to you. I think you sort of got the wrong idea about something."

Dean straightened and looked at her questioningly, "Okay?"

"Dean, I..." Ty hesitated, wondering why again she was doing this. But it was too late now. If she didn't say something, Dean would drag it out of her. Or at least pester her until she caused more problems, "I...uh...kind of wanted to clarify something. You know, just to clear the air and all. Figured we have enough things to deal with."

"Okay, sure. What's up?"

"I...uh...well...I don't like Sam." Ty finally admitted, feeling like she'd just fought a battle with a particularly nasty poltergeist. She suddenly found the bandages on her hands infinitely easier to look at than one Dean Winchester, no matter how easy on the eyes he might be.

"You don't like Sam?" Dean repeated slowly, still obviously not getting it.

Ty sighed in exasperation. Was the boy completely dense or what? Well, she wasn't going to spell it out for him any more than she already had. Not with words anyway. The whole talking thing was just too hard and she never had been one for many outwards expressions of emotion. So, she made a snap decision to just grab the damn fool and kiss him and hope that he pieced the rest together from there.

She felt Dean's surprise in his momentary hesitation. Then, it was almost like she could hear it all click in his brain as he grinned widely and kissed her back. She could almost imagine what he was thinking: _Oh, you don't like Sam! I knew a chick would never dump me for Sammy!_ The thought almost made Ty laugh because it was so typically Dean.

She had forgotten how good a kisser Dean was. And at the moment it was like she'd been in withdrawal or something. The boy was freaking intoxicating! She released his shirt and ran her hands up to his neck, while his arms encircled her waste. Ty knew, flat-out knew that she shouldn't be doing this, not really. Not if she wanted to keep her heart from breaking somewhere down the road. But it was impossible for her not to fall for Dean.

'_Damn boy's just too pretty_.' she thought humorously to herself.

"Oh! I...uh...didn't expect...sorry..."

That surprised stammering came from a highly embarrassed Sam who had the misfortune of walking into a full-blown make-out session. Ty and Dean broke apart to look at the tall figure standing in the doorway. Dean looked entirely too thrilled with the situation, Ty's face had gone an uncharacteristic shade of red.

"Hey, Sammy!" Dean greeted his brother. He dug keys out of his pocket and tossed them at Sam. "Why don't you gas up the car?"

"Uh...'cause we have three-quarters of a tank still?" Sam replied, tossing them back.

"Dude!" Dean exclaimed.

"It's okay." Ty interrupted them, stepping away from Dean. She sent him a pacifying look, her hand lingering on his arm in a silent promise to return before heading over to Sam, "Come on, Sammy. I've got something I've got to tell you."

"Damn straight she does!" Dean called after them.

"Shut up, Dean!" Ty called back, but with no real animosity behind it.

Dean's exuberance was making her own burdens feel a little lighter at the moment, so it was hard to do anything to dampen it. Even if his ego could use some deflating.

Ty led Sam past the car and further into the parking lot, just out of Dean's hearing range should he venture out to the Impala. Sam looked curious as he waited for her to speak.

"I kind of sort of did something dumb." Ty admitted with a sheepish smile.

"What's that?" Sam prompted, a puzzled smile gracing his features in response.

"Well, I sort of led Dean to believe that I liked you instead of him." it was downright amazing how much easier it was to admit that to Sam than to Dean.

"You...what?" Sam asked, his eyes sparking with humor and his smile widening.

"He was being dumb and...I don't know, I got this idea to make him jealous. It was stupid and I just want to forget about it."

Sam was only partially listening to her. What began as a light chuckle was quickly becoming a heartfelt laugh, "So that's why he...Jesus, no wonder!"

Ty tried to frown disapprovingly at Sam, but couldn't quite manage it. So, she decided to shove him instead and say, "Hey, don't be a jerk. I'm trying to live this down, here."

"Sorry." Sam said, fighting back any more laughter, "It's just..."

"Yeah, I know." Ty interrupted, rolling her eyes. She continued dryly, "Try to contain yourself."

Sam just nodded, fighting a losing battle to contain a smile as he followed her back to the car. Dean had loaded the last of their things and was leaning against the driver's side, waiting for them. When Ty got close, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into his chest, lifting her head and planting another sound kiss on her lips. Ty saw him looking over her head at Sam, lifting his eyebrows. Sam just chuckled again in response and sought the passenger side of the car.

'_Well, at least this much is back to normal_.' Ty remarked to herself, '_Well, normal-ish._ _Now all I have to worry about is the ten-year-old haunting me, whatever the hell's going to happen in Stull, and that pesky prophesy of Sam's about my death by demon. Yeah, what a week._'

Ty slid into the back seat and the Impala rumbled to life. She felt better, like she could function, but there was no just forgetting what had happened with Liz. Especially not with the promise she had made the girl looming over her head. The visit from ghost-Liz had done two things to her: it had forced her to continue, but at the same time made it impossible for her to forget. So, Ty was just going to have to keep the misery deep inside and start psyching herself up for whatever she had to do. She wished she knew what to expect, at least. All she knew, and she wasn't sure why she knew this, but she was just about certain of it, was that the demon, Sam and Dean's demon, would have something to do with it.

Ty grabbed her backpack and pulled it to her. This was going to be a long drive and she would need every minute of it to mentally prepare. She donned her headphones, turned the volume up and let some angry rock music course through her, ignoring the boys, the road and everything else. She retreated into her mind, her head slowly bobbing unconsciously along to the music as she tried to convince herself that it didn't matter that she had seen the demon kill her in a dream, it wasn't going to happen. If anyone was going to die at the end of this, it was going to be some supernatural bad guys.

After some hours of this, Dean pulled into a gas station/truck stop/mom and pop diner. He tossed a crumpled up wrapper back at Ty to get her attention, causing her to jump and whip her head up, her headphones slipping off her ears.

"Now I don't really read lips or anything, but I know for a fact that half those words you've been mumbling were curse words." Dean informed her, sounding and looking slightly amused, but Ty wasn't fooled. She could see the veiled concern in his eyes as he looked at her, twisted in his seat with his arm strewn lazily across the back, "You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Ty refused to let him see any further signs of weakness. She highly doubted that either Winchester brother placed much stock in her current ability to hold her own. She had too recently been undone by a hunt for them to feel that she was ready for another. And yet, that was exactly what she wanted to prove to them. So, she grinned at Dean and replied, "Nope, just you, baby."

"Huh." Dean said, glancing at Sam with a shrug and a smile, "Can't complain about that."

Sam just shook his head at his older brother, "Dude, flirt later. I'm hungry."

"Bitch." Dean called after him as Sam climbed out of the car, "After this is all over, we've got to swing by this chick named Sarah's place."

Ty knew it was bait, but she decided to indulge Dean, "Why's that?"

"'Cause Sammy likes her and he might lighten up if he gets laid." Dean revealed with a wink and Ty couldn't help but laugh.

"I don't know what you're saying, but shut it!" Sam yelled from the door to the diner.

Dean rolled his eyes and got out of the car. Ty followed suit, following him over to the door to join Sam. The elder Winchester slugged the younger in the arm, "Why's everything always got to be about you, huh?"

"Ow! Jerk!" Sam snapped, "And I'd bet fifty bucks you were talking about me."

"Gee, Sam. Don't you think that's a little egocentric of you?" Dean teased.

"Boys!" Ty interrupted before Sam could respond, "Think maybe you could grow up and join me for dinner?"

Without waiting for a response, Ty pushed past both of them and through the diner doors. The smell of food that wafted through the building immediately made Ty's stomach growl with surprising ferocity, reminding Ty rather loudly about how she had been missing for three days in which she hadn't eaten.

"Darlin', did that come outta you?" the inevitable "ma" of the establishment, easily identified by her head of curls and frilly apron, asked with a smile.

"Uh...yeah, I guess it did." Ty admitted, a little embarrassed.

The kindly looking women merely smiled wider, revealing dimples and numerous laugh lines, "Well, honey, you've come to the right place, then. My name's Helen. Why don't you come right this way and we'll get you kids a table?"

Ty and the Winchesters followed the women to a booth and seated themselves. Still smiling, like their very presence made her day, she handed them each a menu before pulling a pad of paper out of her apron pocket, "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Just water." Ty said.

"Coke for me." Dean answered, flashing the woman one of his charming grins.

"Me, too." Sam echoed.

"Water and two cokes. I'll be right back." Helen nodded, her curls bouncing around her face.

"So, where are we?" Ty asked, bumping her shoulder against Dean who sat next to her.

"Nowheresville, Kansas." Dean replied, playing absently with a napkin "Few more hours and we'll be in Lawrence."

There was something about the way he said the town name that made Ty look at him. His face was a mask, betraying no emotion. Ty wondered what was so terrible about Lawrence that would make Dean shut down like that, but she decided not to pry. They were heading that way anyway. Sooner or later, the significance of Lawrence, Kansas, would be revealed.

"Maybe I should call Missouri and let her know we're coming." Sam offered.

Dean shot a look over at his brother, "Dude, she's a psychic."

"Oh, this is who you called about the dream-vision thing, right?" Ty suddenly recalled.

Sam nodded, "She helped our dad when he first started looking for the demon. If he's involved in this, she might know."

Ty nodded and fell silent as Helen approached with a tray of drinks. Ty took her water with a smile of thanks. Unfortunately, she forgot about how her injuries might appear to outsiders as she realized when she caught Helen's eyes lingering on her bandaged hands and then catching sight of her bruised throat. Ty ducked her head, letting her hair swing forward to block her view.

"Know what you want yet, everybody?" Helen asked, her voice sounding slightly more forced cheerful than it had originally been.

Dean and Sam both put in their orders and Ty echoed their choice of burgers and fries, trying not to attract any more attention to herself. The last thing she needed was for someone to start asking her how she'd managed to turn her neck purple.

The trio consumed their meal rapidly, engaging in little conversation. After they finished, Dean and Sam went to gas up the car and Ty decided to take the opportunity to use the bathroom.

"Honey?"

Ty spun around, the voice so close behind her putting her instantly on the defensive. She relaxed when she saw that it was just Helen. A few feet behind her was the cook, a large man in a greasy white apron. They were both looking at her with wide, concerned eyes.

"I know you don't know us from nobody, honey, but if those boys are hurting you..." Helen began gently.

Ty's own eyes widened when she realized what conclusion Helen had jumped to when she'd noticed her injuries. She thought the boys had done that to her! Ty almost couldn't shake her head emphatically enough.

"No, no, no. It's not what you think. They didn't...no, there was...they had nothing to do with...I'm fine." Ty sputtered.

From the look on their faces, Ty could see that they still didn't completely believe her so she repeated herself about being fine and beat a hasty retreat into the bathroom.

'_Well, that was awkward_.' Ty thought to herself, '_Hope that doesn't happen again_.'

It was bad enough having the Winchesters give her those sympathetic looks. Getting them from strangers who didn't even know what had really happened was just a little too much to deal with. Plus, there was no way she was going to tell anyone that she hadn't been beaten by her traveling companions, but by some crazy supernatural entity and a gypsy witch.

Ty quickly hurried out of the diner after she'd finished in the bathroom and nearly jogged back to the car. Dean gave her a small smile when he saw her approach that made Ty falter a little. She was glad she'd come clean with him. His actions and attitude toward her since then had made everything a little easier to handle. Clearly, there were still unresolved issues between them, but he still liked her and that counted for a lot.

A wicked thought entered Ty's mind, bringing a grin to her face and a sinister glint to her eye. Dean's smile slipped into a frown when he caught that look, knowing that nothing good could come from a look like that on a woman.

"So, Dean?" Ty asked smoothly, moving to stand next to him near the driver's door.

"Yeah?" Dean asked warily.

"Can I drive?"

Ty couldn't suppress her grin at the mortified look on Dean's face. She glanced across the car at Sam, who was also grinning. She winked at him and he laughed.

"But...you don't know where..." Dean began.

"You can tell me where to go." Ty interrupted. She put on her best crushed face, "What's the matter? Don't you trust me? After everything?"

Dean just gaped at her, looking between her and the car. Ty let him stew in it for a minute, before laughing and shaking her head, "Dean! Oh my god, calm down. You can drive. I don't care."

Dean's eyes narrowed, "You're mean."

Ty smiled, "So?"

She retreated around to the other side of the car and gave Sam a high five. Dean's glare encompassed them both, "You know, you're making it awfully hard for me not to choose the car over you two."

Sam rolled his eyes and flopped into the passenger seat, "Like we both don't know that already. You should just marry the stupid car."

"I think that's illegal in most states." Ty pointed out.

Dean stroked the steering wheel, "Don't listen, baby. You know you're the only lady in my life."

"Well," Ty mused, "I'm certainly not a lady."

"You said it, not me." Dean replied, flashing that grin that had made Ty feel weak at the knees from day one.

The Impala pulled back out onto the road, kicking up a cloud of dust behind her as she barreled onwards through the farm country on the lonely highway through Kansas. They talked easily, the only indication of their mutual anxiety the avoidance of the topic of their destination. Instead, Ty goaded the boys into sharing embarrassing stories from their childhood. In this way, the miles past much faster than Ty would have expected.

"So, Dean's in this cardboard box, right?" Sam was saying, fighting back laughter, "And he pushes it up to me going 'Vroom! Vroom! Look Sammy, I've got a car, just like Dad's!'"

"Hey, as I recall, you were pretty jealous at the time." Dean replied, but he had a small smile tugging at his lips also.

Ty laughed, picturing a miniature Dean in a cardboard version of the Impala, "How old were you?"

Dean said, "Like six."

And at the same time, Sam chimed, "Eight."

"I was not eight!" Dean protested, glaring at this brother.

"Dude, you were so eight. I don't remember anything from before I was like four, so you had to be eight." Sam argued.

"I think I know when I built Betty." Dean snapped, then froze as soon as he'd said that, his eyes snapping back to the road.

Ty glanced between them, amused at the wide-eyed look that had come to Sam's face and the even wider grin that his mouth was slowly forming.

"Oh, my god. I forgot you named it." Sam said slowly. Ty had never seen a look of such glee on Sam's face before, "It wasn't just Betty, though. What was it? Brown Box Betty!"

"It was not!" Dean denied.

"Was, too!" Sam immediately argued, "I remember now. It was Brown...Brown Box Betty and you would 'drive' around in it singing 'Brown Box Betty, bam-ba-lam!'"

"Awww." Ty drawled teasingly.

Dean's hands on the steering wheel tightened, "Sam?"

"Yeah, Dean?"

"I hate you."

"I know you do." Sam said cheerfully.

While Dean settled in for a good sulk and Sam leaned back to bask in the glory of his accomplishment, Ty turned to look out the window at the dark landscape rapidly passing. They had already passed Topeka and she could see the lights of a town ahead on the horizon. She figured that must be Lawrence since Dean had assured her they were almost there after griping about how he had made a nine-hour drive in less than eight and it still wasn't fast enough. She wasn't complaining though. She was set in her decision to do this, but she wasn't exactly chomping at the bit to dive headfirst into whatever was happening, either.

Suddenly, the window Ty was looking out of began to fog up. Sure it was kind of cold out and sure the heat was on, but there was no reason for it to fog up like that. Ty sat up, edging back from the window a bit, her eyes fixed on the condensation. Slowly, something began to draw through the fog on the glass, leaving trails of clear glass. Ty's eyes widened when she realized that something had just written "Hi."

Ty glanced quickly up at the front seat, but neither of the boys were paying any attention. Ty slowly inched closer to the window. She cautiously reached out and swiped her hand across the message. Then she leaned in and breathed on the glass until her warm breath fogged it up again. Quickly, she traced her finger through it and wrote "Liz?"

A giggle drifted through the car, making Ty whip around to look for its source, but she couldn't see anything anywhere. The boys didn't seem to hear it, but Ty's movement attracted Sam's attention.

"What's the matter, Ty?" he asked.

Ty looked over at him and out of the corner of her eye, she got a glimpse of the figure of a girl suddenly appear in their headlights. Ty gasped and flinched as she waited for Dean to slam on the brakes or for the car to hit the girl, but neither happened. The image just disappeared like smoke on the wind as the car passed through it and continued on down the road as if nothing had happened.

"Did you just see that?" Ty demanded.

"See what?" Dean asked, glancing back at her.

"Did you see something?" Sam echoed, sitting up straighter in his seat.

Ty shook her head and rubbed her eyes. It was late and she might be a little tired, but she was sure she was not hallucinating. Liz was still around and apparently getting kind of bored.

'_Punk kid found a way around that whole promise to keep out of the way_.' Ty thought angrily, '_Guess she figures making it so only I can see her is okay even if she's freaking the bejeezes out of me_.'

"Ty?" Dean pressed.

"No, nothing. Sorry. It was nothing." she said, inwardly hoping Liz could hear her thoughts about how very not funny that had been.

Ty fell back into her seat and crossed her arms grumpily. After that little episode, she was fairly certain that Liz would be making an appearance tonight sometime, most likely shortly after she managed to get to sleep. Kid must be getting bored or something with nothing to do but tag around after her. Ty had to admit, that was some crappy afterlife.

'_You can't get mad, though_.' her conscience insisted on pointing out, '_It's all your fault_.'

Damn conscience. She should really get rid of it.

Not long after this, the Impala entered a small town that looked like everything Ty had ever expected middle class suburban American to look like. There were even white picket fences around some of the houses. Ty wondered how on earth the Winchester boys had ever come to be associated with such a quaint place. She thought again about asking, but when she looked at the boys, they both had expressions that made her decide to remain silent. Sam was watching the buildings that passed with a forlorn look while Dean refused to look at anything but the road ahead.

It was late and most of the houses were dark, but the one in front of which the Impala pulled up still had lights on. As the engine shut off, the door to the house swung open and a short African American woman appeared in the threshold.

"Well, it's about time!" she called.

Dean groaned softly, "And it begins."

"Dean Winchester, if you haven't learned to stop giving me lip by now, you're just asking to get beat with a spoon!" the woman threatened before turning on her heel and disappearing inside, leaving the door open behind her for them.

Dean dropped his head onto the steering wheel with a sigh. Sam was already grinning with delight at his brother's discomfort. Ty was slightly amused, but also apprehensive. She'd never met an honest-to-god psychic before and didn't know how to act. She figured she'd just roll with the punches and see how things went. Hopefully, Missouri wouldn't spill the beans about the ghost tailing her and would be able to give them some idea of what they were in for.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Well, Charlotte, you asked for more action and I've decided to interpret that as I wish. You'll see what I mean at the end of the chapter. Don't worry, though, things are quickly heading to the showdown. Oh, and I forgot to mention last week that the song for Chapter Eighteen is Destructive by (yeah, I'm surprised, too) Leann Rimes. It's not classic rock, but the song was in my head and it kind of fit with how Ty was psyching herself up. Anyway, we're back on track in this chapter with an awesome Jimi Hendrix song, All Along the Watchtower.

A/N2: Oh, and I forgot. In case anyone is confused, I started this fic before Season 2 started, but decided to add in a few things like the hunt with the clown. I guess that makes this AU because in this world, all three boys survived the crash and John didn't have to make any deals. I'm sorry, I just can't join the killing Jeffrey Dean Morgan cult.

Chapter Nineteen: Gotta Beware

_There must be some kind of way out of here  
Said the joker to the thief  
There's too much confusion  
I can't get no relief  
Businessman they drink my wine  
Plow men dig my earth  
None will level on the line  
Nobody of it is worth  
Hey hey_

No reason to get excited  
The thief he kindly spoke  
There are many here among us  
Who feel that life is but a joke but uh  
But you and I, we've been through that  
And this is not our fate  
So let us not talk falsely now  
The hour's getting late  
Hey

Hey

All along the watchtower  
Princes kept the view  
While all the women came and went  
Bare-foot servants too, but huh  
Outside in the cold distance  
A wild cat did growl  
Two riders were approachin'  
And the wind began to howl  
Hey  
Oh  
All along the watchtower  
Hear you sing around the watch  
Gotta beware gotta beware I will  
Yeah  
Ooh baby  
All along the watchtower

Sam, Ty, and a straggling Dean trooped into Missouri's home. Ty began a mantra as soon as she left the car to not think about Dean. Thinking about him inevitably led her thoughts in a direction she did not want anyone to overhear.

"Well, have a seat." Missouri called from somewhere else in the house as the trio wandered into the living room, "I'll be out in a second with some tea."

Sam claimed an armchair while Ty and Dean sat down on the small couch. Dean perched on the edge of the furniture as if ready to bolt for the door at a moment's notice. His normal attitude of being perfectly at ease was surprisingly absent causing Ty to be both amused and anxious at the same time.

'_Don't think about Dean!_' she chastised herself before she could consider him any further.

Missouri entered with a carefully balanced tray containing a pot of tea, four cups, and a small plate of cookies. She set this on the table and began pouring the hot liquid into the cups.

"Honey, you have got to relax." she commented.

Ty thought she was talking to Dean until she noticed that she was smiling at her and holding out a tea cup. Startled, she shook her head.

"No...um...I mean, I'm sorry. I've just never been around people like you before." Ty blurted, then her eyes widened as she realized what she had said and before she could stop herself she added, "I mean psychics, not black people! I mean..."

Ty clamped her hands over her mouth before she could say anything else and stick her foot even further down her throat. What a great first impression!

Luckily, Missouri just chuckled, gently pried one of Ty's hands away from her mouth and placed the tea cup in it, "Calm down, sweetie. I know my gift can make people uncomfortable."

"You can say that again." Dean muttered, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

Missouri glared at him until he stilled, then turned her attention back to handing out the rest of the tea. She also offered the plate of cookies to Sam, who smiled brightly at her in thanks and accepted, quickly starting in on one. That accomplished, she settled into the remaining chair in the room.

"So, first you boys call me about another one of these visions that Ty here seems to have picked up on. Now you show up at my house, thinking that something terrible is going to happen in Stull." Missouri said. She leaned forward, looking from Dean to Sam, "And why aren't you going to call your father?"

Sam set the remainder of his cookie and the cup down, his face suddenly becoming serious and his eyes holding a flash of anger, "He disappeared on us for a year, never bothering to call or tell us anything about what was going on or if he was okay. We finally catch up with him, he agrees that we're stronger together, and then he goes and disappears on us again. We're not calling him."

"Sam..." Dean began, but Missouri cut him off.

"Sam, your brother has a point. Your father loves you. He's trying to protect you even if he is being a damn fool about it."

Dean looked a bit mystified that Missouri had taken his side, but Sam didn't seem to care either way. He folded his arms resolutely across his chest, unwavering. Ty was suddenly struck again with that feeling that she had no idea what was going on and that she didn't belong.

"Now, that's not true." Missouri said, turning towards her and startling her again by reading her so easily, "You're as much a part of this now as anyone. These boys have just got more going on in their past than a Greek tragedy."

That settled, Missouri pressed onwards with the current drama in the Winchesters' lives, "Well, tell me what's happened and why you're here, bothering an old lady."

Dean and Sam exchanged glances, silently asking each other who should start this one. In that moment of silence before either spoke, Ty was hit with a flash of panic as she thought about everything that had happened so recently. Sure, she knew what had happened and that she couldn't change any of it, but the idea of recounting it all to someone who hadn't been there...well, Ty was just a bit terrified that the kindly woman who had just handed her a cup of tea might look at her differently after she'd heard everything. She could already see that soft, sympathetic look on her face hardening and her eyes glaring silent accusations at her. She could already imagine the psychic picking up on her guilt and confirming her fears, telling her that she was in fact responsible for Liz and that if she'd just let go of her selfish desire to be a part of this crazy life that the Winchesters' led, that the boys could have handled it, that Liz would still be alive. All of this pounded through Ty's brain in that instant before Dean opened his mouth and began saying something about going to Arizona and Ty felt her throat constrict painfully and her eyes widen as she began to frantically look for an escape.

"Dean Winchester!" Missouri interrupted him sharply.

Dean jumped, his own eyes reflecting a bit of panic as he wondered what on earth he could have possibly done now.

"This poor girl is hurting. You get her upstairs and take care of her." Missouri ordered.

Ty paled a little as she realized that Missouri had picked up on the little episode she'd just had. Dean and Sam were both looking at her now, so she deflected, "I guess I probably should change these bandages."

Missouri caught Ty's eye even though Ty had been trying desperately not to make eye contact with her. The psychic shook her head slightly, as if to deny Ty's fears. Then, before Ty could read anything into that or make a response, she took on a stern caste again and turned her attention back to Dean, "Go on! Get upstairs! There's a bathroom at the end of the hall with a first aid kit under the sink. Sam can tell me what's going on."

Dean nodded and quickly got to his feet. Ty followed him as he went upstairs, but while Dean seemed almost relieved for an excuse to put distance between himself and Missouri, Ty's steps were dogged. Being around a psychic had just made her realize that despite her coping mechanisms, she hadn't dealt with anything. She'd found ways to push it aside for some periods of time, but not to resolve any of it. The guilt was still there, as strong as it had been when she'd first found Liz's body.

Missouri's voice made Ty pause halfway up the stairs.

"It's about time that boy started to actually care about a girl." Missouri commented.

"You don't know Dean, Missouri. He's got reasons for what he does. Even if they don't make much sense to anyone but him." Sam defended his older brother.

Sam's statement made Ty recall how both the women the other Winchester men had cared about had wound up dead and about Sam's earlier comment about how Dean thought it was easier to keep people at a distance. And for the first time it really clicked. She got it know. Dean was just as scared about ending up with a broken heart as she was.

"Honey, that boy's waiting for you!" Missouri called out gently.

Ty started, her cheeks reddening as she realized that she'd not only been caught eavesdropping, but that Missouri may have also overheard her thoughts on Dean.

'_Don't think about Dean. Don't think about Dean_.' she began mentally chanting again as she quickly hurried up the rest of the stairs.

She didn't catch Missouri's light chuckle as she smiled and told Sam to continue.

Upstairs, Ty found that Dean was, in fact, waiting for her in the hallway. He looked at her with raised eyebrows, but she just shook her head, glad that at least Dean couldn't read her mind.

"Freaky, huh?" Dean asked quietly.

"What?" Ty asked, still a little distracted by her attempt to keep her mind pure.

"The reading minds thing." Dean explained, nodding his head towards the stairs, "I don't know about you, but if I wanted other people to know what I was thinking, I'd say it out loud."

"Yeah." Ty shrugged, "Doesn't seem to bother Sam, though."

Dean made a face, "That's 'cause she likes him. Plus, Sam's a freaking saint. He probably just thinks about textbooks and...and kittens."

"Kittens?" Ty questioned skeptically.

Dean spread his hands with a grin and shook his head, "I don't know."

He stepped closer and took one of her hands, gently peeling the bandages off. Squinting at the wounds, he gestured towards the bathroom. Ty entered the room, flipping on the switch and having a seat on the closed toilet seat. Dean dug out the first aid kit, opened it and set it on the edge of the sink. Ty wordlessly held out her hand. Dean glanced at it again before taking a wad of cotton and wetting it in the sink. Squatting in front of Ty, he scrubbed at the wound. He wasn't applying too much pressure so it didn't hurt much, but Ty was starting to feel uncomfortable with the silence.

"Dean?" she asked.

"Yep." he answered, focused on his task. He grabbed something else out of the first aid kit, ripping open the package and then applying something else wet to Ty's shredded palm. Ty inhaled sharply when the sting hit her and she realized it was gauze soaked in alcohol.

"Why...uh...why'd you bother talking to me in the first place? Back at the bar." Ty asked, watching as Dean threw the alcohol gauze away and then applied some antibiotic cream and began rewrapping her hand.

Dean glanced up at her briefly before focusing again on her hand. He paused before he responded, waiting until he'd finished wrapping her hand and tucked the end of the bandage into a previous fold. He started on her left hand before answering, "Honestly?"

"Yeah." Ty answered, wondering if she should be worried that he was asking that.

"Well, you were the only girl there dressed like you were looking for a fight and tossing back hard liquor. Caught my attention." Dean shrugged.

Ty didn't know what to say to that so she just stared dumbly at the top of Dean's head as he bent over her hand. He finished that and glanced up at her, releasing her hand. He wasn't really looking at her, he was looking at the bruising on her throat. He straightened and Ty looked up at him as he pushed her hair out of the way and gently examined the damage.

"Can I ask you a question?" Dean asked.

"Sure."

"If you don't like Sam, why'd you turn me down? What'd you mean about the difference between me and him?"

His voice was neutral, but the way he was avoiding eye contact clued Ty into the fact that he'd been thinking about this for awhile and still didn't quite have it all figured out. Ty sighed. She'd been afraid they might have to get into this.

"That's technically two questions." she began by teasing. Dean just shrugged, so Ty pressed on, "I...I felt like you only cared about me at all at night when you were drunk or horny."

Dean grinned faintly, "That's a fair amount of the time."

Ty rolled her eyes, "Yeah, well...I have this pet peeve about that kind of thing. Kind of did that sort of scene before and it's not for me. I said what I said because you may get all the girls in the world, Winchester, but how many of them have meant anything to you? How many of them actually qualified as a relationship?"

"You mean like Sammy and Jess. That's what you meant."

"Yeah, I guess." Ty agreed, trying to read Dean's expression, but without much luck, "You going to head for the hills now?"

Dean took a step back, removing his hands from her throat and crossing his arms in front of his chest. He offered her another brief grin, "You know, contrary to popular belief, I can do the relationship thing."

Ty looked up at Dean with a raised eyebrow.

"I can!" Dean protested, "I knew a girl once, felt pretty serious about her. I even told her about hunting and everything."

Surprised, Ty blurted, "What happened?"

Clearly trying to mask his emotions, Dean rolled his eyes and smiled a self-deprecating smile, "She thought I was crazy so she ended it."

Ty stood up, moving close to Dean with a smile, "You are crazy."

"Me? If one of us is crazy, it's definitely not me, sweetheart." Dean replied, arching an eyebrow, smile turning more genuine.

Ty kissed him, wondering for a second what this all meant. But she'd seriously had enough of this chick-flick moment, so when she pulled away she flashed Dean a grin, "Yeah, you love it."

Dean laughed softly, silently expressing his gratitude to her for putting an end to all the seriousness.

"Stop stalling." Dean prodded, "Show me where else you're hurt."

Ty mulled over the idea of exposing her other injuries. She could clean the wounds on her knees easy enough herself, but the ones on her back were a bit more difficult to care for. She turned her back to Dean, cautiously pulling off her sweatshirt and pulling her shirt up so he could see her back. Dean's hands on her skin were warm as they pushed her shirt a little higher and took in the numerous cuts from the glass.

"You and Sam have got to stop getting thrown into glass." Dean mused.

"What and miss this scene in the bathroom?" Ty quipped.

"Good times." Dean agreed sarcastically.

Dean quickly patched Ty up as well as he could before pulling her shirt back down and gently turning her around.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yeah." Ty nodded. She placed a bandaged hand on Dean's upper arm, "How's your shoulder?"

Dean shrugged, "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

Ty leaned forward and kissed him again, just glad that she could.

Someone cleared their throat loudly and Ty and Dean pulled apart.

"Sam!" Dean snapped in annoyance.

"Sorry. Missouri sent me up here. She said that I should tell you..." Sam paused, looking amused, "to let that poor girl sleep and if she catches you doing or even thinking anything...less than innocent, you'll be sleeping in the car."

Dean groaned in annoyance. Ty smiled.

"There's a guest room down the hall for you, Ty. Dean and I are downstairs." Sam continued.

Ty followed Sam down the hall, ignoring Dean as he muttered about preferring to sleep in the car rather than having someone intrude on his thoughts all night. She also ignored Sam who shot back that Dean should go ahead and sleep in the car then, 'cause he sure as heck didn't want to share the bed. Ty just wanted to lie down on a soft bed and get a little sleep. It had been a long day.

The room that Sam indicated was hers reminded Ty of the guest room at her grandma's house. It was small, but cozy and comfortable. Ty yawned and asked if Sam would be a gentleman and get her some clothes or if Dean would pretend to be one and do the same. That earned her a dirty look from Dean, but it hardly fazed her. She retreated to the bed, sitting down gently on the mattress. It felt heavenly so she eased onto her back with a sigh. That was how Dean found her when he came back upstairs with her suitcase.

"You know, I might have to steal this Zeppelin hoodie." Dean announced, picking up Ty's discarded sweatshirt.

"Over my dead body." Ty replied without moving.

Dean leaned over her and pressed a light kiss on her lips, "Tired?"

Ty nodded, closing her eyes and inhaling. Dean smelled like dusty leather and she felt safe with him close by even if they were only ten miles out from the site of something terrible.

"Night, Dean." she mumbled, eyes still closed.

"Night, babe." Dean replied, backing quietly out of the room and pulling the door closed after him.

Missouri's was probably one of the safest places they could possibly stay at, but Dean pulled a box of salt out of his pocket, one which he had grabbed from the Impala along with Ty's stuff, and lined her doorway with it anyway. He wasn't taking any chances. Only after a healthy heaping of salt lay on the carpet before her door did he feel it was okay to head back downstairs and outside to the Impala.

Ty, meanwhile, sighed heavily and forced herself to sit up. She changed into her pajamas, stuffing her dirty clothes back into her suitcase, before climbing into bed. Her head hit the pillows and she was out.

Someone was pounding on her door. Ty tried to ignore it and keep sleeping because it seriously felt like she'd just closed her eyes, but the noise wouldn't stop. So, cursing sleepily, she threw the covers back and tromped over to the door.

Despite the fact that Ty had predicted it, the sight of Liz standing just the other side of her door was still more than a little shocking. In the dim light of the hallway, she looked even more translucent than before, but there was no missing the mischievous grin on her face.

"Liz?" Ty hissed, looking up and down the hallway, afraid that she'd woken someone up with all that banging on her door.

"You locked me out." Liz frowned.

"I thought ghosts didn't use doors." Ty replied.

"Not the door, stupid." Liz said, pointing down at the line of salt on the floor.

Ty frowned at the salt for a moment before she realized that Dean must have done it. Sighing, she dragged her foot through it, knowing that keeping Liz out in the hallway would only cause more problems.

"Come on." Ty ordered, once the line was broken. She went to grab Liz's arm, but found that Liz was more immaterial than she'd planned on.

Ty glanced askance at the young ghost, but she just shrugged and moved into the room. Ty closed the door behind her after once last glance down the hallway to make sure no one was about. When she turned around, she found Liz seated cross –legged on the foot of her bed.

"Liz, this haunting me stuff is really not helping anything." Ty pointed out.

"Sorry." Liz said unapologetically, rolling her eyes.

Ty continued, not really hearing her, "And what was up with that stunt with the car? You trying to give me a heart attack?"

"No." Liz answered petulantly.

"Then what? I can't see how freaking me out is going to help me avenge you."

"I was bored." Liz whined, unfolding her legs and kicking them back and forth, "I thought it would be funny. I just wanted your attention."

"Well, you got it." Ty snapped.

But Liz continued as if Ty hadn't spoken, "And then when I came to see you and found that I couldn't get in, well..."

Ty's eyed widened and she slowly asked, "Liz, what did you do?"

Liz's eyes wandered around the room, looking anywhere but at Ty, "Nothing, really. I just...pulled a few little pranks on the boys."

"Pranks? What pranks? I thought you were going to stay scarce."

"They'll never know it was me." Liz said confidently, "Besides, it's no big deal. I just messed with Dean's radio a little and hid one of Sam's shoes."

Ty stared levelly at the ghost. She wasn't buying that for a second. Liz caught her gaze and sighed, throwing her hands up in the air, "Okay! So, I kind of switched all the boys stuff in their bags, tied Dean's shoelaces together, and wrote 'Redrum' on Sam's bathroom mirror with the toothpaste."

Ty stared at Liz for a moment, her mouth agape. She couldn't believe it. It would almost be funny if it weren't for the fact that she was desperately trying to hide the fact that a ghost was following her around.

"Dude!" she finally gasped.

She couldn't really get all-out mad at Liz because of her guilt over the situation, but she still felt that she needed to put on a normal front for the girl's sake, even if she was deceased. For some reason, she felt that it would still be bad for Liz if she came unglued again. So, she decided to stick with annoyed, "Couldn't you try being more of a Nancy Drew ghost instead of an adolescent poltergeist?"

Liz brightened a little at that suggestion, "What do you mean?"

Ty smiled a little in relief, glad that she could at least make Liz feel useful, "I mean, maybe you can try and find out what's going on here? We don't exactly know what we're up against. It would help if we did."

"Yeah, I could try that." Liz nodded, standing up.

"Great." Ty agreed, "Why don't you start on that? Sooner the better."

"Right." Liz said, "I'll be back when I find something."

With that she was gone. She didn't fade this time or dissipate like smoke. She was just suddenly not there. It was unsettling and Ty couldn't help but search the room with her eyes briefly to make sure she was gone. Then, with another sigh, she pulled on her shoes and went to clean up the mess Liz had made.

A half hour later, Ty had finally found Sam's missing shoe and cleaned the toothpaste off the mirror, thankfully with waking him and was ready to head out to the car with the bag from Sam's room and switch it back with Dean's. As far as Dean's shoelaces and the radio went, she figured he was on his own.

Ty stole outside, moving stealthily over to the car. This was going to be tough to accomplish without waking Dean, but Ty was willing to give it a go. Luckily, she found that he'd dropped his bag on the front seat while he was stretched out in the back and the windows were rolled down. Ty eased the bag out the window slowly, careful not to make a noise. Once she had it, she contemplated just putting Sam's bag in its place, but knew the boys would still know the difference. She had to switch all their stuff back into the correct bags. Further annoyed with Liz, Ty placed the two duffels side by side on Missouri's porch-swing and began exchanging the contents. She wanted to be far enough away from the Impala that Dean wouldn't hear the rustling.

Ty tried not to wonder if the clothes she was pulling out of one bag and shoving into another were clean and instead focused on completely her task as quickly as possible. She was impeded however, when she heard someone come up behind her. A hand closed on her shoulder and Ty kicked backwards without even turning around. Her shoe caught shin and her would-be attacker grunted at the impact. Ty whirled around ready to continue her assault if need be when she saw who she'd just kicked.

"Dean?" she asked, startled.

Dean cursed and clasped a hand to his shin, balancing awkwardly on one leg, "Ty? What the hell are you doing out here?"

"Nothing." Ty said, quickly moving to block his view of the bags, "Couldn't sleep. Why'd you sneak up on me?"

"I saw someone messing around on Missouri's porch in the middle of the night. Why the hell'd you kick me?" Dean demanded, slowly releasing his leg.

Ty flashed back to another instance in her life where she'd wound up kicking someone in the shin for next to no reason and decided to repeat her same excuse. With an innocent shrug she said, "Foot slipped."

Dean stared at her incredulously and Ty couldn't help, but laugh. She quickly decided her best course of action from that point on was distracting Dean, something that she wasn't all that averse to doing. Moving close to him, she reached a hand up to his neck, bringing his face closer to hers.

"So, Missouri said nothing bad in the house, but she didn't say anything about the car." Ty pointed out, raising her eyebrows.

A sly grin suddenly appeared on Dean's face and he began backing towards the car. Ty moved with him, her pulse quickening. Sure, she still had to get the boys' bags back where they belonged, but really, this was far more important. She could think of an excuse for why she'd have been rummaging through them later.

"Hey, Ty?" Dean asked as she pressed a kiss to his throat.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Did you tie my shoes together?" Dean asked curiously.

Ty laughed softly, her breath tickling Dean's skin. He pulled her face up to his and pressed a deep kiss onto her mouth.

"Do you care?" she asked as she pulled away.

Dean thought that over as he looked down at the girl in his arms. He pulled the door to the backseat open, "Nope."

But while Ty and Dean were having fun in the car, Sam was tossing violently in his sleep, sweat beading on his forehead. He suddenly shot awake, sitting upright. It wasn't a new vision, the one of Ty's death, but this time he felt that it was more immediate, like time was running out.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Sorry about the wait, guys, but school and work are very demanding. And I left you with a cliff-hanger, which I know makes me a really bad person. You can review and tell me all about it...

Chapter Twenty: Hell's Bells

_I'm a rolling thunder, a pouring rain _

_I'm comin' on like a hurricane _

_My lightning's flashing across the sky _

_You're only young but you're gonna die _

_I won't take no prisoners, won't spare no lives _

_Nobody's putting up a fight _

_I got my bell, I'm gonna take you to hell _

_I'm gonna get you, Satan get you _

_CHORUS: Hell's Bells Yeah, Hell's Bells _

_You got me ringing Hell's Bells _

_My temperature's high, Hell's Bells _

_I'll give you black sensations up and down your spine _

_If you're into evil you're a friend of mine _

_See my white light flashing as I split the night _

_'Cause if good's on the left, then I'm stickin' to the right _

_I won't take no prisoners, won't spare no lives _

_Nobody's puttin' up a fight _

_I got my bell, I'm gonna take you to hell _

_I'm gonna get you, Satan get you _

_CHORUS _

_yeow Hell's Bells, _

_Satan's comin' to you Hell's Bells, _

_he's ringing them now Hell's Bells, _

_the temperature's high Hell's Bells, _

_across the sky Hell's Bells, _

_they're takin' you down Hell's Bells, _

_they're draggin' you around Hell's Bells, _

_gonna split the night Hell's Bells, _

_there's no way to fight, yeah _

_Ow, ow, ow, ow Hell's Bells_

Ty stretched slightly as she woke up, feeling very warm and strangely comfortable despite the fact that she'd just spent the night in the car. No matter how spacious the interior of the Impala, sharing the backseat made it kind of cramped.

When Ty opened her eyes, she found Dean staring at her. He'd been waiting for her to wake up since he'd failed to think of a means of getting up without disturbing her.

"Hey." she said.

"Hey." he replied.

"How long have you been up?" Ty asked, feeling like she should probably move so that he could get up, but too comfortable to do so just yet.

"Awhile." Dean shrugged with the arm that Ty wasn't laying on. His hand raised to skim across her shoulder blade, "So, what do the tattoos mean?"

Ty glanced over her shoulder at the tattoo on her left shoulder blade. She had one on each shoulder. The one Dean was currently inspecting was of an ouroboros, a snake eating its tail. Inside the circle created by the snake was the Latin phrase 'absit omen,' which meant 'may the bad luck go away.' On her other shoulder was a circle of various ancient symbols surrounding a scroll that contained Ancient Greek writing that meant 'I am; this is enough.' Ty had gotten each of them when she reached the point of being able to read in that dead language and was fairly proud of them. Ty looked from her tattoo to Dean's face and quickly decided, "I'll tell you about my tattoos if you tell me about these."

She lightly traced her hand across the nasty scars that marred Dean's chest. She'd noticed them their first night together, just as she was sure Dean had noticed her tattoos before, but when it had been a one-night stand type of deal, there really hadn't been a point in asking about them.

Dean grabbed her hand to stop her from touching him, "Deal."

"Okay." Ty nodded, pulling her hand back, sitting up, and turning so that Dean would have a better view of both her tattoos, "The one with the scroll I got first. It's Ancient Greek for 'I am; this is enough.' Figured that was a good thing to keep telling myself."

Dean nodded mutely behind her, reaching up and pulling the strap of her pajama top down onto her arm so he could see the design better. His fingers on her skin made Ty uncomfortably aware of his closeness, but she ignored it.

"The other one is Latin for..." she began.

"Go away omen." Dean interrupted.

"Bad luck." Ty corrected, a little surprised that Dean could read Latin.

Apparently Dean caught the surprise in her voice because he turned her back towards him, giving her a disarming smile, "Hey, I know stuff, too."

Ty dipped her head, acknowledging the fact that Dean Winchester might, in fact, know "stuff."

"So, about this," Dean said, gesturing at his torso, "this is from the last time Sam and I caught up with the demon."

Ty eyes widened as she looked over the scars again. Her wide eyes found Dean's and she knew that he didn't miss the flash of fear in her eyes. She knew that the Winchesters last meeting with the demon had ended badly, but she didn't know the specifics. Looking at the long pale scars across Dean's chest, it became painfully clear that the demon had damn near killed him.

Dean flashed her his cocky grin, distracting her from her thoughts, "But whatever. Chicks dig scars, right?"

Ty stared at Dean incredulously, amazed that he could just shrug it all off like that, before she realized that he was trying to calm her. And he was just such an idiot about it that it actually worked. Chicks dig scars? Ty snorted and rolled her eyes at Dean.

"Dean?" Ty ventured, inhaling the scent of the Impala's leather seats.

"Huh?"

"I love..." Ty paused, cozying into the seat. Dean's eyes widened and he stiffened, his face the picture of panic as he waited for Ty to finish her sentence. Ty smiled and said, "...your car."

Dean exhaled in a long sigh of relief, causing Ty to smile wider. He caught her smile and his eyes narrowed. Ty met his gaze and said brightly, "Yeah, I'm a bad person."

"Alright, let me up." Dean said, untangling himself from her completely.

Ty moved so that he could get up. Pulling his shirt back on, Dean pushed the door open and climbed out of the car, groaning as he stretched his muscles. Ty scooted over after him, sitting with her feet out the open door as she pulled her shoes on. She caught sight of the duffel bags on the porch-swing and quickly began thinking of excuses.

"Hey, is that my duffel?" Dean asked only seconds after Ty saw them.

Dean grabbed his boots and pulled them on quickly before starting towards the porch. Ty quickly followed him, mind buzzing with half-formed ideas about what to say.

"Ty, what were you doing with me and Sammy's stuff?" Dean asked as he looked from the bags on the porch-swing to Ty with raised eyebrows.

Ty latched onto the first mostly coherent thought she had, "What the hell did you do with my Zeppelin hoodie?"

Dean's eyes widened in surprise, but Ty was sticking to her story. She planted her hands on her hips and pushed on with her accusation, "When I woke up last night, my hoodie was missing. You said you were going to steal it and now it's gone. First, I thought I should check your bag, but then I thought that you might hide it in Sam's to throw me off, so I grabbed his, too. But it's not there, so where is it, Dean?"

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about." Dean said with honest confusion.

Ty narrowed her eyes in a practiced glare, before slowly easing out of her act, "Alright, fine. But if I can't find it, you owe me a new one."

Dean just shrugged, still confused, "You always this nuts in the morning?"

Ty gladly took that opportunity to change her tune completely since she didn't really want to pretend to be mad at Dean all day. She flashed him a smile, "Twenty-four, seven, baby."

With that, Ty turned on her heel and headed inside. Muttering something she couldn't make out and would probably hit him for if she could, Dean grabbed the bags and followed her. Ty couldn't help but continue grinning. She was rather pleased with herself for talking her way out of that one. Now all she had to do was make sure she hid that sweatshirt for awhile, at least.

Ty could smell something amazing coming from the kitchen, but she decided to delay breakfast long enough to take a shower. Besides, she didn't particularly want to advertise to Sam and Missouri that she'd spent the night outside with Dean.

"I'm going to take a shower. Whatever that is that smells so good, save me some." she tossed over her shoulder to Dean before hurrying up the stairs.

It was probably lucky for Dean that Ty decided to take this course of action and didn't enter the kitchen with him because when he did, he was nearly mauled by Sam.

"Dude!" Sam exclaimed when he saw his brother, leaping up from his chair and towards Dean, "You can't sleep with Ty!"

Dean froze where he stood, first staring at his brother like he'd just professed his undying love for Dean's mullet rock and admitted that their father did indeed know best. Then, his eyes drifted past his obviously insane little brother to the short psychic who had paused in her cooking of pancakes to stare accusingly at Dean. The elder Winchester quickly transferred his gaze back to his brother, hoping that in doing so Missouri would not glean any thoughts about last night's activities from his brain.

"Dude, what the hell?" Dean began to admonish Sam.

Not only did Sam have absolutely no say in who Dean slept with, but he should know better than to bring it up in front of Missouri. Did he not teach the kid anything about the unspoken guy code? No talking about your sex life in front of anyone even remotely parental figure-like. Dean focused on that and tried desperately not to say anything about Sam being too late to prevent that particular action, anyway. Then, Dean tried even harder not to smirk as he mentally added, twice.

"Dean!" Sam interrupted, his eyes still wide and his whole body on edge, "You just can't, okay? In the vision..."

"Woah, woah, wait a minute." Dean cut him off with a wave of his hand, "The Ty-death vision? Dude, are you saying that you say me and her...!"

Sam didn't answer, but the redness that crept onto his face and his averted eyes were all the answer Dean needed. He quickly backed away from his brother.

"Man, that's just...you saw...gross, man!" Dean's sputtered.

"Dean, I..." Sam began to try and explain.

"Dude, you saw like me and Ty porn!" Dean exclaimed.

"Boys." Missouri calmly interjected, not raising her voice, but still somehow commanding their attention, "The point is, Sam had the vision again. It's coming soon."

Relieved by the change in focus, Sam snatched a newspaper off the table where he'd been sitting and pushing it towards Dean, "All the signs are here, the ones Dad talked about: cattle death, freaky weather, all around Stull."

Dean was still staring at his brother with that disturbed look on his face. It was one thing for Dean to brag about his conquests to Sam, but another entirely to think that Sam might have had ring-side seats. Sam caught his brother's look and sighed, "Dude, I didn't really see much. It was just obvious what you'd been doing."

"But why the hell would that be in your vision?" Dean demanded.

"Right after, when you guys start to go to sleep, the demon takes her." Sam said quietly.

Dean fell silent at that, digesting what his brother was telling him. The demon was coming for Ty and it was going to take her right out of his arms.

At that moment, the girl in question strode into the room, glancing around and noticing the tension. Her step faltered and she frowned, "What did I miss?"

For a moment, no one answered. Ty's eyes kept moving from one person to another and finally, Sam opened his mouth to answer her, but Missouri cut him off before he could say anything.

"Everyone sit." she ordered.

The three young hunters all fell into chairs without a word. Missouri turned off the griddle, removed the last few pancakes, then came to sit with them at the table. She took in each face before her in turn before addressing them, "I'm afraid that we don't have much time. Judging from everything that I know has happened, I can venture a guess as to what it's up to, but I don't know for sure. The last time you faced it, Dean, you killed one of its children and exorcised another. Now it's gathered up all this power from the sacrifices and is moving in on a hell gate. My guess would be that it's trying to speed up the war that's coming be unleashing the rest of its children from hell."

Dean swore colorfully under his breath, but Missouri didn't say anything about it. She had turned her attention to Sam, "I don't know what it's plans are for you, Sam, or the other children. I don't know if this is a part of that or if it's something else, just another part of its master plan. What do you think?"

Sam shook his head miserably, "I don't know."

"Anybody have any ideas on how we can kill this thing?" Dean asked.

"Besides the Colt?" Missouri shook her head, "Your father's been asking me that question for years and that gun was the first lead we had."

"Sammy, we need to call Dad." Dean insisted.

Sam's jaw clenched at the suggestion, but after a moment, he nodded. Dean immediately stood to go get his phone, but Missouri held up a hand to stop him.

"Now might be a good time for me to tell you boys that I called your father last night." she admitted.

"You..." Sam began angrily, slamming his hands on the table and standing swiftly, his chair scraping back against the floor loudly.

"Samuel Winchester, sometimes you are as pigheaded as all you Winchester men!" Missouri snapped, slowly climbing to her feet and staring evenly up at Sam, "As foolhardy as your father's been about chasing this demon, it would be just as foolish for you boys to face it without him. You're a family, you need each other."

Sam and Dean remained in uncomfortable silence for a moment after that before Dean muttered, "Told you so."

In Sam's defense, Ty kicked Dean under the table.

"Ow!" Dean exclaimed, but dropped it when faced with the stoic faces around him.

"When will he be here?" Sam asked.

Rather than respond, Missouri directed her gaze past Ty and the boys to the doorway to the living room. Three heads turned to find a dusty, ragged John Winchester standing there.

"Hey, boys." he said quietly.

Sam and Dean seemed frozen for a second before Dean jumped up from the table, went over and hugged his dad. Ty couldn't help, but stare in fascination at the infamous John Winchester. John clapped Dean on the back, a smile tugging at his face before they pulled apart. The smile faded as his attention turned to his youngest.

"Sammy?" he ventured.

Sam said nothing, his jaw clenching even more. He glared at his father for a moment before turning and leaving the room, exiting out the back door and letting it slam shut behind him.

"I suppose I deserved that." John admitted, staring after Sam.

"You're darn right, you deserved that!" Missouri admonished, as prompt to chastise John as his sons, "John, you've put these boys through hell."

Ty noticed that Dean was strangely silent through this exchange. She felt the urge to go to him, silently lend him her support, but she was also reluctant to draw attention to herself.

"Who's this?" John asked, ruining any chance Ty might have had to stay out of this anyway.

He looked at her with a slight smile, his face relaxing slightly. Ty stood and approached, holding out her hand to shake his. She could see the family resemblance clearly, especially to Dean in the way he smiled.

"Ty Falkner." she said.

"John Winchester." he replied. He glanced from Ty to Dean, his smile slipping, "This must be the girl you dragged into all of this."

Dean said nothing, just glancing away, his jaw clenching. Ty watched him, amazed that he was going to just take that. Well, if he wasn't going to defend himself, she would do it. At least, in this instance.

"No offense, sir," Ty began because John Winchester seemed like the type of guy that you called 'sir,' "but Dean didn't exactly drag me. I wanted to be a hunter. I was just lucky enough to run into your sons who've been showing me the ropes."

John's frown deepened, "And damn near getting you killed even though I told him to keep you out of this."

John reached out and pushed her hair aside, exposing the bruising along her throat to prove his point. Ty stepped back out of his reach, her eyes beginning to blaze with anger at the way John was treating his boys. What exactly did he expect from them?

"I damn near get _myself_ killed, thank you." Ty snapped before she could really think about it.

John looked confused at that statement and Dean couldn't quite suppress a snort. Ty looked rapidly between the two of them before she fully understood what she'd just said. Hurriedly, she rephrased, "I mean, I'm a part of this because of my own actions and because of this demon, not because of Dean. This is not his fault. In fact, I'm more inclined to thank him."

"Thank him?" John asked.

Ty saw her opening and calmed down slightly before explaining herself, weighing her words more carefully before sharing them, "For giving me a purpose, something to fight for. I don't care what anyone says, sir. I'm a fighter. I just needed someone to show me the battle before I lost my mind. Besides, I'd rather do this with Sam and Dean to back me up than on my own."

Dean muttered something about her being crazy, but Ty ignored him, instead meeting John's searching gaze evenly as he inspected her. She refused to even blink under the older man's scrutiny, determined to pass inspection. She might very well be more foolish than she was experienced, but she was stubborn and she'd set her mind to this hunting thing. There was no changing that now. Especially considering everything that had happened since she'd first met these boys. She would not let Liz down again no matter what John might have to say. Although, she was seriously starting to regret the somewhat low-cut top she had picked out should someone have to distract the local security in Stull.

"She's right, you know." Missouri chimed in just as Ty was about ready to scream.

Stubborn or not, standing there with John staring at her silently for eternity was enough to make anyone lose it.

John's gaze broke from Ty's and moved over her head to Missouri. He raised an eyebrow at her, silently asking her for an explanation. Missouri sat back down at the table and gestured for everyone to come join her, "No one is fighting any demons today without breakfast."

Ty couldn't suppress a smile at Missouri's statement. She was even more amused when she found both Dean and John taking seats at the table, neither willing to argue with the psychic. Ty's stomach growled, urging her to join them, but she felt that someone ought to find Sam first.

"I'll be right back." she promised Missouri quickly, before hurrying out the backdoor.

There was no sign of Sam in the backyard, so Ty moved around the side of the house, through the side gate to the front. She spotted Sam sitting in the Impala on the passenger side.

'_That car must be more like home than anything_.' Ty mused as she approached.

Ty opened the driver's side door and slide in, pulling it gently shut behind her. Sam glanced at her, then returned to staring out the side window.

"Hey." she ventured, testing the waters.

Sam just grunted in response, steadfastly refusing to look at her.

"Sam..." Ty began.

"They send you out here?" he interrupted.

"No." Ty answered, a little startled by the question, "I wanted to see if you're okay."

Ty caught Sam's face take on a sarcastic and strangely amused expression before he quickly suppressed it, "I'm fine."

Ty rolled her eyes, "Come on, Sam. Don't act like your dumbass brother. Talk to me."

Ty was rewarded for her comment by a small smile from Sam. Slowly, he sighed and turned somewhat to face her slightly more.

"Dean probably didn't tell you." Sam said softly, "We're from Lawrence. This is where our mom was killed."

'_Well, that explains why Lawrence is so important and the boys have been on edge since we rolled into town_.' Ty reflected, yet she couldn't also help but think that Sam was avoiding the real issue.

So, Ty decided to gently push him, "But your dad..."

Sam's jaw clenched and his mouth pulled down in a scowl at the mention of his father, "My dad? All my dad cares about is this stupid demon. He doesn't care about me and he doesn't care about Dean. If he did, he wouldn't have abandoned us. He wouldn't have raised us like this is all that matters and then shut us out when we finally get close to ending it."

This type of thing wasn't Ty's strong suit, so it took a long moment of silence before she could even think of a response. Awkwardly, she tried to comfort Sam, "I don't know anything about all this, Sam, but I can't believe that's true. Not completely. Even Missouri says that your dad's just been trying to protect you."

Sam just shook his head angrily and angled himself back towards the side window. Ty just barely caught the shimmer of growing tears in Sam's eyes and it made her freeze in her seat. She was so out of her element here. Witty banter she could do. Insanely reckless fighting of evil? Just point her in the right direction. Somehow making Sam feel better about all of this when she didn't even know the half of it? She was completely hopeless. Fidgeting in her seat uncomfortably, Ty desperately tried to think of something else to say that wouldn't sound like it was out of a Hallmark card.

"He's here now, Sam." she finally forced herself to say, "We're all here, including that son of a bitch demon. Whatever happened before doesn't matter right now. All that matters now is stopping that thing."

Ty waited anxiously, biting her lip as she waited for Sam's reaction to that. Finally, he nodded stiffly, "You're right."

Smiling, Ty made a now desperate attempt to lighten the mood, "Thank god 'cause Missouri will kill me if I don't get you to come in and eat some pancakes."

Sam laughed gruffly at that and nodded again. He pushed open the passenger door and climbed out. Ty quickly followed suit, meeting Sam's eyes over the car.

"Thanks." he said, managing a fleeting smile of gratitude.

Ty simply nodded and gestured towards the house. Sam moved around the Impala to join her and they headed back inside. They entered the front door and Sam caught sight of his duffel in the living room next to Dean's where his brother had dropped them on the couch. He raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything, simply continued to follow Ty back to the kitchen silently. Everyone looked up when they entered, but Ty shook her head quickly and sharply to preclude any questions. The tension was palpable as she and Sam joined the others at the table, the only real noise the scraping of utensils against plates.

"Well, this is fun." Dean grumbled after a few minutes.

"Dean." Ty hissed, afraid that he would upset the careful balance that existed in the room.

"What?" Dean demanded, raising an eyebrow at her. He stood and backed away from the table, "I think I'll go take a shower. You guys keep chatting."

Before anyone could respond with more than a glare in his direction, Dean disappeared out of the room. Ty secretly wondered how she could make such an exit, when someone else braved the silence.

"Have you boys found the target yet?" John asked.

For a moment, Ty wasn't sure Sam would answer. She half-expected him to stomp out of the room again. But he simply responded tightly, "I had the vision again. I think Ty's the target."

Ty stiffened at the knowledge that the vision of her death had visited Sam again. She'd been trying really hard not to think about that, or to at least convince herself that it was the distant future. No such luck with either now. Ty suddenly lost her appetite, carefully setting her utensils back down.

John nodded, but it was evident from the look on his face that he was still angry, still blamed the boys for involving her. Ty clenched her hands into fists, swiftly becoming furious with the man, but remained in her seat. What was it about Winchesters that could make a person absolutely livid in two seconds flat? It must be genetic because all three men had it to some degree. Well, she would just have to deal with John like she dealt with his boys: ignore him.

"I think that we should use me as bait, then lure it out so..." she began.

"No." Sam interrupted her.

"She may have a point, Sam." John disagreed, "If it's coming for her, we might as well be waiting for it."

Their eyes met for a second over this, before Sam tore his gaze away, glaring at his half-eaten pancakes instead of his father for the moment. Ty could hardly believe this turn of events. John Winchester, master hunter of all things supernatural, was siding with her on the game plan to face the demon? She must still be dreaming.

"You still have the Colt?" Missouri asked.

John reached inside his jacket and pulled out an antique-looking gun, placing it gently on the table. Ty stared at the magic gun, the one weapon they had against the thing that wanted to kill her. That gun in the hands of one of these men was her salvation. Ty wondered how they would take it if she asked them to take some time out today for some target practice.

"One bullet?" Missouri asked.

John nodded.

"So," Ty ventured, glancing around the table, "what's the plan?"

John leaned back away from the table, appearing at ease, but his hand lingered by the gun, "We set a trap. It will want us in the cemetery, so that's where we'll take it."

"But in my vision, it takes Ty from a motel." Sam protested, finally speaking to his father, even though his eyes remained on the table.

"It can't take her from a motel if she's not in one. The cemetery is where it will feel strongest. If we lay out the bait there, it will have to take it." John argued, dismissing Sam's protest without even glancing his way.

Ty considered John's plan, acknowledging mentally that he was the most experienced of all of them, but she couldn't displace the doubt that she had. She had seen Sam's vision, too. Plus, Sam's visions were never wrong. She caught Sam's eyes and somehow they both silently shared the feeling that a backup plan was needed, just in case.

"Security may be an issue." John continued, drawing their attention back to him, "The Stull cemetery is private and they hate tourists. Sam, you and Dean, run interference."

Sam's head shot up at that. Looking at him, Ty knew he was thinking the exact same thing that she was: '_Dean's not going to like that_.' It was one thing to set a trap in the cemetery using her as bait. It was another to tell Sam and Dean that they would be diverting cops instead of actually fighting the demon. And, truth be told, Ty would really prefer having three Winchesters protecting her rather than just one.

"You thinking of using a Devil's Trap on it, John?" Missouri asked.

"You think it will hold it?" John asked in reply.

Missouri shrugged, "It might. It should, but I wouldn't risk my life on it."

"It held Meg." Sam offered.

John just nodded, considering this information silently. Ty could almost see the plan taking shape in his mind as she watched him. Judging by his demeanor, Ty was a little worried about how this might play out. Despite Missouri's warning, Ty was fairly certain that John would risk his life on anything that might allow him to kill this demon. She also believed that he might risk even more than that. This was what he'd spent the last two decades seeking: revenge, closure. Watching him as he planned their attack, Ty just hoped that he wouldn't get them all killed in the process.

Dean strode back into the room then, wearing fresh clothes, his hair still damp. John glanced at him over his shoulder as he entered, then stood. Sam followed suit, so Ty did as well, feeling slightly unprepared for everything to start happening already.

"Let's go." John said, those two words like an order.

Dean nodded and turned on his heel, heading back out of the room, not even pausing to ask what had happened while he'd been gone. That would be too much like questioning an order from his dad. John followed behind him and Sam trailed after. Ty moved to follow, when Missouri stopped her.

"Ty." she said quietly, not getting up, but making Ty freeze in her tracks nonetheless. Ty slowly turned and faced her, wondering what the psychic had waited to say to her when none of the others were present, "You're going to have to tell them."

Ty tried to appear clueless, "Tell them about what?"

Missouri gave her a level stare that said plainly not to try and pull anything on her, "You may not think it's important, but they should know. Now's not the time for secrets."

Ty forced down the lump in her throat, trying not to panic over the fact that Missouri knew about Liz. She finally managed to protest, "She's my problem."

Missouri just shook her head before shooing her out of the kitchen. Ty gladly fled any further discussion with the psychic, hurrying after the less dangerous, non-mind reading demon-hunters. Well, maybe less dangerous wasn't the right descriptor, but non-mind reading was definitely a plus.

When Ty exited Missouri's home, Sam and Dean were already getting in the Impala and John was behind the wheel of a massive GMC truck. She caught John's eye, mostly by accident as she looked at his truck. He held her gaze for a moment, refusing to release it until he was satisfied that he had the full measure of her. Ty tried to project her resolve back to him, nodding her head at him. John finally nodded back, releasing her to join his boys. It was obvious by the tightness of his mouth and the stiffness of his position in the truck that he still wasn't thrilled, but he was at least giving her a chance. Ty couldn't help but feel like she'd made the first cut or something as she turned and grabbed the door-handle of the Impala.

Three doors creaked shut almost in unison and the Impala's engine roared to life. Ty almost missed that delightful engine noise, however, because the radio screeched to life, Britney Spears wailing about something or other. She clamped her hands to her ears at the sound. Ty, for one, had never felt any desire to listen to Britney Spears at any point in her life, much less at such a high volume. However, she could almost forgive the pop star for assaulting her ears at the moment because the look of absolute, gut-wrenching pain on Dean's face was just fucking priceless. The hunter, normally so slick, able to whip around and put twelve rounds in a monster without deviating more than inch from dead center in seconds flat was fumbling desperately at the radio controls. When he finally managed to bring the volume down and return the radio to classic rock, he was swearing more colorfully than Ty had ever heard him and Sam was laughing so hard there were tears in his eyes.

"Who the hell touched my radio?" Dean demanded, his glare sweeping from Sam to Ty.

Ty had to admit that neither of them looked altogether innocent what with Sam laughing his ass off and her grinning mercilessly. And it wasn't like she was about to spill the beans now, no matter what Missouri said. There was just no way she was going to tell Dean that actually it was a bored ten-year-old ghost who had messed with his precious car. So, what was a girl to do but play it innocent and let Dean believe whatever he wanted.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ty said, making her eyes as wide and innocent as she could.

Dean's eyes narrowed further, "Not funny."

"Actually..." Sam argued.

"Shut it. I'm pissed at both of you. If you..." Dean began, moving into full-fledge ranting threat mode. Luckily, he was interrupted by an impatient honk of John's horn. Dean glanced back at his dad quickly before pulling the car out on the road, heading towards Stull. He growled at his passengers without looking at either of them, "We survive this, you're both dead."

Ty smiled sweetly at the back of his head, sure he'd catch it in the rearview mirror. Sam rolled his eyes at her and she transferred her smile to him. It struck her that if anything happened to either of these boys on this hunt, she might not be able to handle the guilt. Swiftly, she stomped out that thought, choosing instead to settle back into the seat and sing along to the radio softly.

The drive to Stull took hardly any time at all, which was a blessing and a curse all at once. Ty continued to accompany AC/DC in the hopes that it would keep her calm, but her eyes were peeled on the town that was outside the car, examining every inch of every structure that passed. She wasn't sure exactly what she was looking for. Maybe something from the vision she'd shared with Sam? Maybe a neon sign proclaiming "Freaky-ass demon here!" Who knew?

Dean pulled into a diner, John right behind him. He killed the engine and the three of them sat there silently for just a moment before they reached for their doors. Ty wondered if maybe she wasn't the only one who was desperately trying to keep nerves from getting the best of them.

"You kids wait here for a second." John said as he strode over to the Impala.

Dean and Ty nodded. Sam just grunted. John pretended not to notice and went inside the establishment. Ty leaned back against the car, crossing her arms over her chest and trying to project a calm she didn't feel. She soon found herself mumbling the AC/DC song from the car, feeling strangely better now that she was doing something, anything.

"Are you singing AC/DC?" Dean demanded after a minute or two.

Ty glanced over at Dean. She took her time to respond, before letting a snarky grin curve her lips and unfolding her arms so that she could point at Dean with both hands as if they were guns, "Shoot to thrill, baby."

Dean's brow furrowed like he was confused and his voice was slightly incredulous as he asked, "Did you just AC/DC me?"

"Did you just make AC/DC a verb?" Sam asked in reply while Ty just continued to grin.

She was fairly pleased with herself about defusing the building tension at least for the moment. But, as usual, her triumph was short-lived because suddenly the air around her became freezing. Dean and Sam didn't seem to notice and Ty was hard-pressed not to outwardly shiver. She glanced around and spotted a flicker of a shadow moving quickly into an alleyway. She'd only caught a brief glimpse out of the corner of her eye, but there was no mistaking Ty's ghostly sidekick.

"I...uh...gotta pee. Be right back." Ty lied, not really even paying much attention to the boys anymore. If Liz was back, she must have found something and Ty needed to know what that something might be. She didn't even stop to think that Sam and Dean might notice that she was heading into an alley and not into the diner. It was a careless mistake but at the moment her only concern was the demon and how she could avoid her own impending doom.

The alley was dim and shadowy despite the fact that it was still morning out. The dumpster behind the diner produced an interesting aroma that made Ty's nose scrunch up in protest, but she ignored it.

"Liz?" she called softly, searching with her eyes before moving any further.

"Here." Liz said, stepping out from behind the dumpster and raising her hand as if she were in school. The comparison sent another wave of guilt through Ty, but her need to know what Liz had discovered managed to dominate any other emotion no matter how deep-seated.

"What'd you find?" Ty couldn't stop from jumping to the question immediately.

Liz frowned, causing a distinct pain in Ty's chest, before she answered her, "You won't like it."

"Liz!" Ty couldn't help but snap.

Liz jumped, her form becoming more translucent as if the distraction had caused her to be less able to hold herself together, "I went to the cemetery. There's a lot of...stuff there. Ghosts, but not like me. More like static electricity everywhere, but with feelings and sometimes voices. Really, _really_ creepy."

Liz shuddered, taking a breath before continuing, "Everything in the cemetery knows something big is coming. They can feel it."

Liz paused again, like she didn't want to say more, like she was holding something back. She was avoiding Ty's gaze and fidgeting, kicking at the ground with the vestiges of shoes.

"Liz, what is it?" Ty pressed.

"They...they're scared." Liz admitted, looking up at Ty with big, round eyes, magnified by her glasses.

Ty forced down the lump in her throat. She didn't know what exactly it meant if the ghosts in the cemetery were afraid of what was coming, but she was sure that it couldn't be good. Ty felt panic, that same irresistible panic that had hit her before when she'd seen her death, sweeping over her, building like a scream in the pit of her stomach.

"Ty?" Liz ventured.

Ty glanced quickly up at the ghost, but barely registered her presence. The fact that Liz wasn't completely solid only made it easier for Ty to stare right through her at the moment, lost in her own mind.

"Ty, I've been thinking..." Liz persisted, her voice taking on that small, scared, and slightly squeaky quality it had had when Ty had first met her, "...I don't want you to die."

Ty felt something snap. It was as if someone verbalizing the possibility of her death had sealed it. Ty suddenly felt light-headed. She swayed on her feet, stumbling to the side, her arm flinging out to find the brick wall. She leaned heavily against the bricks, but it felt like she wasn't getting any oxygen no matter how deep of a breath she took. She was distantly aware of Liz hovering nearby, voicing her concern.

A door slammed nearby, causing Ty to jump and loose her already precarious balance. Luckily, she was already leaning into the wall and ended up just falling back into it, landing hard on her butt. Her vision was swimming, though, as if she'd taken a hit to the head. And yet, Ty could see with perfect clarity in her mind's eye the motel room, the flames leaping past her, Dean reaching up towards her, and in her ears the demon's voice resounded.

"Are you okay?" someone asked.

Ty looked up. She couldn't make out the person too well what with the way her vision had blurred and the way the shadows seemed to have all come to congregate in the alley, but she could see the outline of a person and the white of a cook's apron. Liz seemed to have vanished.

"Hey! Are you okay?" the person repeated, coming closer.

Ty tried to nod, but her mind chose that moment to recall the way the flames had felt as they scorched her skin in the dream. So, she merely sat frozen, staring at the diner cook as he walked up to her. As he got closer, Ty could make out a masculine frame, a swath of dark hair, and...

Ty's mouth fell open to scream, but no sound came out. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak, she couldn't even breathe as she stared up at a pair of yellow eyes. The cook's face dropped the expression of concern and his mouth twisted into a sadistic grin.

"Hello, Ty."


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Just a couple chapters left, folks. Be patient with me because I'm agonizing over getting these right. Oh, and there's those final exams and papers and stuff I've got to do, too. Anyway, have no fear. I will finish this story and hopefully you'll like it. Oh, and I stuck in CCR's _Bad Moon Rising_ here because I just couldn't resist. This song is the definition of ominous. I love it and yet every time I hear it, I'm afraid I'm going to get hit by a semi or something. Anyway, as always, reviews make my life worth living. Thanks.

Chapter Twenty-One: Bad Moon

_I see the bad moon arising.  
I see trouble on the way.  
I see earthquakes and lightnin'.  
I see bad times today.  
Don't go around tonight,  
Well, its bound to take your life,  
There's a bad moon on the rise.  
I hear hurricanes a-blowing.  
I know the end is coming soon.  
I fear rivers over flowing.  
I hear the voice of rage and ruin.  
Don't go around tonight,  
Well, its bound to take your life,  
There's a bad moon on the rise.  
All right!  
Hope you got your things together.  
Hope you are quite prepared to die.  
Looks like were in for nasty weather.  
One eye is taken for an eye.  
Don't go around tonight,  
Well, its bound to take your life,  
There's a bad moon on the rise.  
Don't go around tonight,  
Well, its bound to take your life,  
There's a bad moon on the rise.  
_

Ty's mouth opened and closed repeatedly as she gaped like a fish at the sight before her. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that she should get herself under control, reach for the knife in her boot, or even just yell for help. And yet, she had seen what this thing could do. She had witnessed it taking her right out of Dean's embrace and him unable to save her. That knowledge left her with little confidence in her or anyone's abilities to stop this thing from doing whatever it wanted even if that was precisely what she had convinced herself coming into this that that's what she was going to do.

The man with the yellow eyes moved even closer to her, his shoes just an inch from hers. He reached for her and Ty flinched away, scrambling sideways away from him since the wall was at her back. The demon smiled at her reaction as if he reveled in her fear.

Suddenly, a familiar short form appeared in front of Ty, standing between her and the demon. Ty blinked in surprise at the sight.

"Stay away from her!" Liz shouted at the demon, a wind whipping up around her and the temperature dropping sharply.

"Don't get in my way, ghost." the demon growled.

Liz took a tentative step back, closer to Ty, but she stood her ground. Ty could have kissed the kid at the moment. As it was, she was a little distracted by her body's steadfast refusal to obey her commands and the sudden appearance of three Winchester men at the entrance to the alley. Nothing had ever looked to Ty so much like the cavalry arriving to save the day.

"Ty!" Sam yelled, causing her to tear her eyes from the demon and turn to look at him.

All three Winchester men had pulled out guns and had them trained on the demon. Ty noticed, though, that none of them held the Colt.

"Well, well. Everyone's here." the demon sneered. He nodded at each Winchester in turn, "John. Dean. Sammy."

"Ty, get over here." Dean hissed without letting his gaze waver for even a moment from the demon.

"Oh, don't worry, Dean. I'm not ready for her just yet." the demon commented, turning his back on the Winchesters. He raised a hand and Ty felt as if something was grasping her by the shirt and pulling her up off the ground. Instinctively, she tried to fight it, but it was no use. Ty suddenly found herself being thrown through the air at the Winchesters as the demon whipping back around, throwing his arm just as if he was actually touching her and causing the action, "You can have her!"

Ty flew into the line of Winchesters, a bundle of limbs. Sam and Dean caught most of her, breaking her fall as she knocked them to the ground. John managed to avoid the tangle, but there wasn't much he could do because at that moment the cook's mouth flew open and a terrifying dark cloud spewed from him.

"Damn it!" John swore, lowering his gun and spinning on his heel to face his children. He glared down at them as Ty pulled herself free of the boys, slowly coming out of her terrified stupor. Scowling, he barked, "Get up."

Dean and Sam immediately climbed to their feet. Sam helped Ty to reclaim hers, as well, steadying her before letting her go.

"What the hell just happened here?" John demanded of the three of them, "And why is there a ghost tailing this girl?"

Ty felt herself pale as she saw John glance over his shoulder to where Liz was still visible, albeit as translucent as ever. She dropped her gaze to her shoes, but she could feel Dean and Sam stepping back from either side of her and looking at her, demanding answers with their eyes. She realized now, after the fact, that Missouri had been right. She should have just come clean. There was too much to worry about without her having to hide Liz, as well. But it was too late for that now.

"How long has she been floating around?" Dean demanded, his voice low and cold and angry.

"Since you found me." Ty admitted quietly, still staring at the ground.

"Why didn't you just tell...us?" Dean continued in that same voice.

That pause in his speech made Ty think that maybe he'd been about to say 'Why didn't you just tell _me_?' Which made her think that maybe he was more mad about her lying to him than about the situation. But it was also entirely possible that she just wanted to think that, think that this was really about him caring about her and not about her fucking up the hunt. She shook it off and lifted her gaze, meeting his boldly for the first time.

"She's my problem." Ty answered tightly.

"That's bullshit!" Dean snapped, whirling around and stomping a few feet away before turning back to her and growling, "You should have said something. What the hell were you thinking?"

Ty planted her hands on her hips, defensive anger making her feel more like herself than anything else probably could have, "Okay, my bad. Can we just accept the situation and move on, please?"

"Do you not get that there's a demon out there that wants to kill you? Now is not the time for you to be hiding the fact that you've got a spook following you around!"

"She's not a threat, Dean." Ty replied, getting rapidly fed up with his pig-headedness. She refused to address his comment about the demon. Of course she knew that. She had just looked the damn thing in the eye for Christ's sake, felt its power.

"Maybe not, but she's a complication. One we really don't need." Dean persisted, gesturing angrily at Liz.

Ty opened her mouth once again to defend herself and Liz, but John cut her off, "Enough."

Ty and Dean both froze, looking over at John, both still furious with the other. John ignored both their tempers and continued to speak in a calm, even tone.

"We need to regroup and figure this out. So, we've got a spook in the mix and no element of surprise..." John paused, considering the facts, "Sammy, maybe you were right about the cemetery."

Sam sort of coughed in surprise at that admission, but didn't say anything, merely waited for John to continue like the rest of them. John didn't disappoint. He turned towards Liz, "What's your part in this?"

"I was one of the sacrifices." Liz said, then belatedly added, "Sir."

John nodded slowly, "So you want to stop this as much as we do."

Liz nodded in agreement.

"Good. Boys, let's get to work. We've got a lot to do before the sun goes down today." John ordered, already striding out of the alley and back towards the cars.

"Wait! What's the plan now?" Ty asked, frowning in confusion and not liking how John seemed so blithe about leaving everyone in the dark and just expecting them to follow orders.

John glanced at her over his shoulder, a cocky grin lightly gracing his features. Ty blinked in surprise at the expression because it was just so..._Dean_.

"Same plan. Kill that thing."

With that he continued, disappearing out of the alley a moment later. Ty stared after him for a moment.

'_I was right. The infuriating thing is genetic_.' she thought to herself.

Dean quickly followed after his father, his body language telling her that he was still pissed. Sam lingered for a moment, turning much kinder eyes on her than either his brother or his father, "Are you okay?"

Ty managed a small smile for him. She wasn't okay, not even a little bit, but there was no reason to tell him that. Somehow between that moment and the next time the demon came, she had to find someway to get herself under control. She'd certainly had her fill of becoming useless, feeling fear control her. It wasn't who she was and she wouldn't stand for it anymore. Liz was counting on her. Hell, she was counting on herself to find someway to get out of this alive. But all that was something she'd have to work out for herself so she tacked a curt nod onto her smile before turning back to Liz.

"Hey, stay close, okay?"

Liz nodded and disappeared, doing that creepy blinking out of existence thing that Ty was not particularly fond of. With that, Ty headed for the Impala and Sam fell in step with her. They didn't say anything further to each other, but Ty couldn't help but wonder what Sam was thinking. He'd had the vision twice. Ty wondered if Sam thought she'd make it out of this, or if maybe he already thought that no matter what they did, that even if they did manage to defeat the demon, that she would be a casualty of war. Ty tried to convince herself that she would be okay with that as long as she took the demon down with her, but she wasn't entirely sure that she meant that one hundred percent.

When Sam and Ty reached Dean and John, the eldest Winchester tossed keys to his youngest son, "Take my truck, Sammy. I want you two to find the motel from that vision of yours."

"What?" Ty asked, startled. Here she'd thought that keeping her away from the site of her death was a good idea.

"You're with Dean when it happens, not me. You'll be okay." Sam reassured her.

"Yeah, but still." Ty protested stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest so that all three men would know exactly how much she disliked this idea.

"Ah, come on, blondie. I thought you liked rushing headlong into danger." Dean piped up, giving her a look that told her knew exactly what he was doing by ribbing her like that.

"You're an asshole." Ty growled, turning and marching towards the truck. She glanced back at him as she grabbed the door handle and yanked the door open, "And don't call me that!"

Ty nearly threw herself into the cab of the truck, ignoring the Winchesters and instead picking at the bandages on her hands while she waited for Sam. She wondered how much longer she should keep them wrapped up. It was really annoying to have her hands bundled up like some kind of cheap street fighter or something.

Sam finally climbed into the driver's side of the truck, stuck the keys in the ignition and brought the vehicle to life. The radio immediately came on also, Zeppelin pouring from the speakers. Ty glanced out her window as Sam pulled the truck onto the street, glancing at John and Dean climbing into the Impala.

"They're a lot alike, huh, your dad and your brother?" Ty mused out loud.

"In some ways." Sam agreed, glancing up into the rearview mirror, "Why?"

Ty shrugged, "Seems like he kind of idolizes him."

"Dean?" Sam asked, glancing at her and then at the road again, "Yeah, I guess."

Ty turned her attention from looking out the window to Sam, "But you don't."

It wasn't a question, but Sam answered it anyway, "No."

"Do you trust him?" Ty wondered.

Sam looked at her again, searching for her emotions in a quick glance at her eyes, "With my life? Yes."

Ty wondered why Sam had to make that distinction, what it was exactly that he didn't trust his dad with, but she decided not to attempt to interrogate him further. She turned her attention back to the road, glancing at the buildings as they passed and wondering how she would recognize a building she'd only seen the inside of once in a dream.

"I don't know what I'm looking for." Ty admitted out loud after awhile.

Sam didn't reply, but a moment later he pulled into the parking lot in front of a motel.

"Sam?" Ty asked, "Is this it?"

Sam shook his head, "I don't know for sure. I've just got a feeling."

Ty didn't question him further, but hopped out of the truck and following the lanky hunter as he strode towards the building. She didn't know exactly what the plan was. Were they just going to peek in the windows or were they going to ask to see a room? Did motels let people just check out the rooms?

Sam headed straight for the check-in desk so Ty decided to just let him handle it and hang in the background. The desk clerk glanced up as they walked in, setting off a door chime. He was a middle-aged, greasy look man and Ty was fairly glad that she had Sam with her. She didn't particularly want to talk to this guy, especially not alone.

"Can we take a look at one of your rooms?" Sam asked since it looked like this guy wasn't about to ask them if he could help them.

"Rooms are thirty bucks a night." the guy replied.

"We just want to look." Sam protested.

The guy shrugged like that wasn't his problem. Grumbling, Sam pulled out his wallet and tossed some bills onto the counter. The clerk snatched the money, counting it before he handed over a key. Sam grabbed it and spun on his heel, leading the way back outside to find their room. When they located it, Sam unlocked the door and entered first, Ty close behind him. The pair scanned the room in silence, neither moving any further than the threshold. Ty glanced from the bed to the ceiling and gasped.

"Sam!" she said quietly, but urgently.

Sam looked at her, then followed her gaze up to the ceiling. Both hunters recognized the patterning on the ceiling from their shared vision and Sam knew now with certainty that this wasn't just the motel, this was the room.

"Okay." Sam nodded, moving into the room and grabbing the foot of the bed.

He dragged it from its place in the center of the room into the corner. Ty watched him from her spot near the door, uncertain about moving any further into this room. Part of her was screaming that it was a trap, that if she moved any further inside, she'd never get out again. Another part of her argued that she was being stupid since the vision was of her and Dean, not her and Sam. Nothing was going to happen yet and they needed to be prepared.

"Ty?" Sam asked, looking at her questioningly, "You okay?"

"Fine." Ty nodded firmly, hurrying over to help him, "What should I do?"

"Can you go grab some stuff out of the truck? Something that will write on carpet, a small gun, and some ammo. Here." Sam tossed her the keys.

Ty caught them and leaped to the task, nearly sprinting back to the truck and rapidly tearing the GMC apart as she searched for the items Sam had requested. She still felt out of the loop on this one, but apparently Sam had some idea of what to do, which was kind of reassuring and kind of aggravating. Why was he dialed in and she wasn't? She'd been there the whole time so unless the Winchesters had some kind of telepathic link, John hadn't told him anymore than he'd told her. Still, Sam knowing what to do was better than the two of them standing around there like idiots. Ty decided ultimately to just chock it up to years and years of the Winchester men hunting bad things together, knowing each other so well. It wasn't because she was inexperienced.

Ty snorted at herself, '_Right_.'

Ty finally emerged from the truck, having dug through the cab, the glove box, and then the tool box in the truck bed. She'd found a permanent marker, a wealth of handguns from which she'd taken the Glock pistol because she'd actually fired one before, and a box of ammo. Feeling childishly victorious, she jumped out of the truck bed and ran back into the motel room.

"Got it!" she announced to Sam.

Sam nodded and held out his hands for the items. The gun and ammo he stashed in the nightstand, pushing them as far back in the drawer as they would go. The marker he uncapped before dropping to his knees and beginning to draw on the carpet. Ty watched as a familiar design unfolded. It was the same symbol that Dean had drawn around her bed in Colorado.

"Sam, what is that exactly?" Ty asked curiously.

"It's called a Devil's Trap. Kind of like a demon lock-box. If we can get the demon in it, he shouldn't be able to get out." Sam explained.

Ty continued to watch over Sam's shoulder as he added more intricate designs around the circle, "Dean drew one in my room in Colorado. Except...the symbols were a little different, I think."

Sam glanced back over his shoulder at her briefly, "There's another one like this that keeps demons out. I drew it on the trunk of the Impala once to keep the Colt safe."

Ty nodded, realizing that Dean had been protecting her from this demon even when she'd been pretending it didn't exist. She made a mental note to thank him, although she also figured that she'd probably forget because he'd piss her off before she got the chance.

Ty kept quiet as Sam finished the drawing, simply staring at the unfolding design. Finally, Sam sat back on his heels, wordlessly announcing that he was finished. He inspected his work before climbing back to his feet.

"Help me move the bed back." Sam requested.

Ty nodded and moved to head of the bed while Sam took the foot. They dragged the bed back over the design and Ty was impressed to find that Sam had drawn the Devil's Trap so that the bed covered the whole pattern. Sam double-checked both sides, making sure everything in the room looked the same as when they'd come in before nodding in satisfaction, "Okay."

"Now what?" Ty asked.

Rather than reply, Sam pulled his cell out of his pocket and dialed. Ty shifted her weight from one foot to another as she waited.

"Dean? We found the motel room. Yeah. Yeah, I drew the Devil's Trap. No, you can't see it. No. Dude, I'm not an idiot." Sam rolled his eyes, his tone becoming slightly exasperated at whatever his brother was saying, "Yes. Okay, so what now? What? Why didn't Dad say anything? Okay, okay. We'll find it. Yeah."

He ended the call quickly, punching the button on the cell with more force than was really necessary.

"What's going on?" Ty pressed.

Sam sighed. His hair fell in front of his eyes and he pushed it aside impatiently, "Dad's afraid that we might not be the only reason the demon's here. The signs have never happened before without the demon targeting a kid and killing its mother so..."

"So we've got to figure out if any of the kids in this town could be a target." Ty finished for him. Ty wasn't especially looking forward to being even remotely associated with protecting a kid from harm again, but what could she do? "How the hell are we supposed to know which kid it wants?"

"We've got to get a hold of birth certificates. It only targets specific kids on their 6-month birthday."

Ty paused in the midst of her fidgeting, "Specific kids? What does that mean?"

"Kids like me." Sam admitted, locking his gaze with hers, "Kids with psychic powers."

Ty didn't say anything else as long as Sam held her gaze. Finally, he looked away, turning and heading back towards the truck. Ty stood frozen for a second before she followed. That look on Sam's face had been so haunted. It was obvious that he blamed himself for his mother's and his girlfriend's deaths. But Ty refused to believe it was his fault. Hypocritical of her really since she held herself entirely responsible for losing Liz, but there it was.

"But why, Sam?" she asked as she snapped out of it and hurried after him, "Why does it kill the mothers?"

Sam shook his head, not looking at her at all now, "I don't know."

"So, why does it do it?" Ty persisted.

"It wants the children for something. I guess it needs to get the mothers out of the way." Sam said, his face becoming expressionless, Ty supposed to hide the turmoil of emotions he must be feeling.

The pair piled back into the GMC, Sam stuffing the keys to the motel room into his pocket as he withdrew the keys to the truck. Ty's mind was buzzing, trying to piece everything she knew together and to make it all make sense. What did the demon want with her? She wasn't anyone's mother or Sam's girlfriend, so what was the point in killing her? How did the carnies and the hell-gate tie in? What she'd gathered from the Winchesters about this demons M.O. just made everything more confusing. This wasn't the typical pattern.

Ty pulled herself out of her musings when Sam pulled into the parking lot of a copy shop, "What are we doing here?"

Sam shrugged, "Figured you might need a fake ID to get in to see birth certificates with me."

Ty felt a grin tug at the corners of her lips, "Dude, seriously? That is so cool!"

Sam smiled back in response to her enthusiasm although he looked a little uncertain. Apparently Sam did not understand her enthusiasm for getting a fake ID.

"What's it going to say?" Ty asked excitedly, "Is it going to be like an FBI badge?"

"Maybe you should wait here." Sam suggested, afraid that her exuberance would draw unwanted attention.

"Like hell!" Ty exclaimed, hurriedly climbing out of the truck.

Sam couldn't help but smile a little at Ty. He'd never felt that kind of excitement about hunting. Of course, Ty had chosen to become a hunter and he had not, but it was still strange to see someone show such a...passion for it. Sam realized at that moment that despite the trauma Ty had so recently suffered and the various reasons he could come up with for why she should stop this and go back home to her family and her normal life, it would never happen. She had been right back when he'd first met her. This was what she was meant to do. It made him sad to think about it because this was not the kind of life Sam would wish on anyone. It was hard and heartbreaking and ultimately ended in some kind of violent death when one of the bad things they hunted finally got the better of them. Sam's smile faded into a frown as his vision came back to him again.

"Come on, Sam!" Ty urged, walking back to Sam and tugging sharply on his sleeve, "Let's go!"

Sam nodded, forcing his features to become expressionless again. He didn't want Ty to pick up on his feelings. He remembered distinctly her panic after seeing the vision for herself and then again when faced with the demon. He did not need to add to her fear by letting her pick up on his own apprehension.

Ty, of course, was oblivious to Sam's thoughts, being too focused on the task of picking out an alias for her new fake badge. This felt like another part of her initiation, becoming a real hunter. She hovered around Sam as he constructed the badge for her, using a snap shot of her from his camera phone which was quickly sent to his e-mail account and then downloaded into the format. It took a little while before the finished product was printed off, paid for and then handed to her, but when she had it, Ty held it reverently in her hand. Her thumb absently rubbed over the laminated card's surface as she read it over repeatedly while absently following Sam back outside. The badge identified her as U.S. Marshall Ty Hannover. It was her favorite alias and she hoped it would work fine for the job.

The next thing Ty knew, they had pulled up in front of the local hospital and Sam was looking at her, "What?"

"Ready?" Sam asked.

"Of course." Ty nodded, pulling her wallet out of her pocket and slipping the new ID over her old one.

She zipped up her jacket, covering her low-cut top, so as to appear slightly more professional. She copied Sam's purposeful walk as they strode in through the doors and straight to the reception desk. The receptionist glanced up, an eyebrow raised questioningly as she looked over the pair.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I'm Marshall Hammel and this is my partner." Sam said, flashing his badge. Ty did the same, trying not to grin about it, "We need to look through the local birth records, if that's alright."

The receptionist's eyes widened as Sam identified them and she nodded quickly, "Of course, but what would you need birth certificates for?"

"We're not at liberty to divulge that, ma'am. Please, if you could just show us to the records." Sam said brusquely and Ty nodded in agreement, her best serious face in place.

"Oh." the receptionist said, eyes still wide. She quickly stood and gestured for them to follow her. Ty couldn't believe how easy that had been. Just a flash of a badge was all it took, huh? 'Course the way she'd looked at Sam when he'd first walked in probably hadn't hurt either.

Sam and Ty were led down the hall and shown to a room that was filled with metal shelving which housed row on row of boxes with varying degrees of wear.

"Did you need anything else?" the receptionist asked Sam, pretty much ignoring Ty completely.

Sam shook his head and smiled his gratitude, "No, thank you. We'll be done shortly."

"Okay." the receptionist nodded and Ty didn't miss the red tinge to her cheeks at Sam's smile. Once she had backed out of the room and left them alone, Ty couldn't suppress a chuckle any longer.

"What's so funny?" Sam asked.

"Dude, she was totally into you." Ty pointed out with a grin.

Sam rolled his eyes, "God, you're as bad as Dean."

Ty chose to ignore that comment and instead pressed, "You should get her number."

Sam just shook his head and began to peruse the boxes. He pulled out the one labeled for six months prior and dropped it on the single table in the room. He and Ty each pulled up a folding chair to either side of it and began looking through the records. Sam made notes on a pad of paper from his pocket while Ty wondered as she stared at the pile how they could know for sure which kid had psychic abilities. Luckily, Stull, Kansas, was not a very big place and not too many kids were born exactly six months prior to that particular day, although Sam did write down any that were born in the next couple days also, just in case. Ty glanced at the list and saw four names. Two were exactly six months old today.

The room suddenly got kind of cold. Sam looked up and exchanged glances with Ty as they both noticed that they could see their breath all of a sudden.

"Liz?" Ty ventured

Liz didn't appear visually, but the young girl's voice answered, "I think I can help."

Sam and Ty both searched the room for the ghost's location, but she was nowhere to be found. It was just her voice, whispering to them as if she was standing right beside them.

"How?" Sam asked.

"Now that I'm...well, you know...I can kind of feel some things. Like the ghosts in the cemetery. And Sam's powers. I think I can tell which kid it is." Liz said hopefully.

Sam looked surprised, "You can sense my powers?"

"Sort of." Liz admitted and Ty imagined her shrugging, "It's like you've got energy around you. More than a normal person."

"Liz, if you think you can help, by all means." Ty cut in before Liz could get anymore distracted, "Let us know what you find out."

Liz didn't reply, but Ty imagined her nodding before she left. The room slowly warmed again, signaling her absence. Sam stood and returned the book to the shelf before he and Ty went to leave.

"All done?" the receptionist called as they moved past her station.

"Yes, thank you." Sam answered, nodding to her.

"Oh, well, I hope you found what you were looking for." she replied, failing to hide her disappointment.

Ty elbowed Sam in the ribs, which earned her a quick glare and a shove towards the door. Luckily, the receptionist missed this as her phone rang at that moment. Ty laughed out loud once they were outside the doors. Picking on Dean was fun, but so was picking on Sam. She could really get used to these boys being a permanent fixture in her life. You know, assuming that she had one past tonight.

Sam and Ty got back in the truck and Sam had just turned the key when the radio began to sketch out. Ty almost screamed when she went to look at Sam and found Liz sitting between them.

"Holy shit, Liz!" Ty exclaimed, bringing a hand to her heart as if to stop its rapid beating, "How many times do I have to tell you to stop doing that?"

"I think it's the second one." Liz said, not bothering to apologize.

Sam pulled his list out of his pocket and glanced down at the name and address listed on the paper. If Liz was right, one Jessica Lynn Waggoner was in a lot of trouble on account of her daughter, Lindsay, and her special gift.

"Let's go." Sam said, pulling the truck out of the parking lot and heading towards the address listed for the family.

Sam wasted no time driving through the small town to the home of the Waggoners. Ty spent the car ride trying to think of what she should do when they got there. What should she say? Like it or not, she was still new at this and good excuses to get people to be on guard against demon attack were just not pouring into her mind. As the truck rolled to a stop in front of a two-story, white picket-fence sort of place, Ty looked over at Sam, feeling lost. She noticed then that Liz had disappeared as abruptly as she'd appeared and without a word. Ty shook off the unease she felt at Liz's movements and refocused quickly on the task at hand.

"Sam, what are we supposed to say to these people?" Ty asked.

Sam looked up at the house through the windshield, "I don't know. The truth?"

Ty's jaw dropped, "You think we should knock on the door and say, 'Hi, you don't know me, but I've got to warn you that a demon may be attacking you tonight?' That's crazy, Sam! They'll just slam the door in our faces."

"Got any better ideas?" Sam demanded.

"Can't we...can't we ward the house or something? Draw a giant Devil's Trap around the whole place?" Ty postulated, thinking quickly out loud.

Sam looked a little surprised by her suggestion. He thought it over before he responded, "We can try it, but if anyone messes up any part of the symbol, it'll be useless."

"We've got to try. We can draw the symbol and then...well, we'll just have to stake out the place or something." Ty said determinedly.

"Uh...Ty? We're supposed to stake out the motel, catch the demon when it goes after you." Sam pointed out, speaking slowly and watching her carefully for her reaction.

Ty's eyes widened and her gaze dropped to her knees. So that was the deal. They could either protect her or this kid. There was not a doubt in her mind that if one of them was left vulnerable, if they split their forces, the demon would take advantage. She had to think of something. She didn't want to die, but the thought of another child's death on her conscience was unbearable even if she didn't even know this kid. Suddenly, she knew exactly what she had to do.

"Sam," Ty said, looking up and fixing Sam with her most serious expression, "I've got a plan."

"What?" Sam asked.

Ty shook her head and forced a shallow smile in an attempt to lighten the mood, "First, let's draw the Devil's Trap. Then, let's find your dad and Dean. I don't want to have the same argument twice."

Sam nodded, but his eyes shone with worry. Ty wondered if he'd seen through her determined face to the fear boiling over inside her. And yet, she could handle the fear now for some reason. Maybe it was because she knew now what she had to do.

Ty spaced as she helped Sam etch the symbol in the ground around the house and on the drive, going over and over her plan in her mind. She only snapped completely out of it once when she saw someone leaving the Waggoner house, the mom pushing a stroller, psychic infant inside. She watched as they moved down the sidewalk past her and further on down the street. Baby Lindsay glanced over Ty as they went past and a quick shiver went down Ty's spine at the look the kid gave her. Now kids normally creeped Ty out a little, but that little girl had such understanding in her eyes that Ty could have sworn that she knew what Ty was doing there. Ty ignored the feeling and dropped her gaze back to the ground, pretending like she was gardening when she was actually creating an ancient symbol to ward off demons. Ty was confident now that Liz was right, this was definitely the kid.

On the drive back to the motel, Ty vaguely noticed Sam talking on his cell, asking John and Dean to meet them there. Ty could already hear what Dean would say when she told him what she had in mind. He wouldn't like it. He'd protest and make excuses and call her crazy, but eventually he'd agree to it. They'd all agree to it because they'd know she was right. They couldn't let this demon have this little girl, take her mother and haunt her life like it had done to Sam and unknown others. She would save her and she would make things right for Liz as best she could. Dean might ultimately hate her for it, but Ty was already resigned to that. This felt right, it felt like fate.

Ty looked up through the windshield at the motel as Sam pulled into the parking lot. The sun was dropping lower in the sky already, just touching the tops of the motel and the buildings around it, setting them alight with a warm, orange glow, hinting at the spectacular sunset that would follow in due course. Ty's mouth twisted in a wry smile as she thought about how they'd paid thirty bucks for this, but it didn't really matter. None of it mattered. Ty could feel it in the air, humming around her and warning that this was going to be one hell of a night. This was it.


	22. Chapter 22

ESSENTIAL AUTHOR'S NOTE! PLEASE READ!

This is not the final chapter. There will be one more. Do not send any poisons, rotten fruit or incendiary devices to me. I know things look bleak, but hang on. I'm hoping you won't see what's coming, but if you do, brownies points for you. The song here is, of course, BOC's Don't Fear the Reaper, a song mentioned earlier as Ty's ring tone. I felt it appropriate. Oh, and please, please review this chapter. Even if you've never left me a review, please do so now. This is the most important chapter of the story, I feel, and I'd really appreciate any advice on how to make it better. Thanks for everything and I'll see you next chapter for the grand finale.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Don't Fear The Reaper

_All our times have come  
Here but now they're gone  
Seasons don't fear the reaper  
Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain..we can be like they are  
Come on baby...don't fear the reaper  
Baby take my hand...don't fear the reaper  
We'll be able to fly...don't fear the reaper  
Baby I'm your man...  
Valentine is done  
Here but now they're gone  
Romeo and Juliet  
Are together in eternity...Romeo and Juliet  
40,000 men and women everyday...Like Romeo and Juliet  
40,000 men and women everyday...Redefine happiness  
Another 40,000 coming everyday...We can be like they are  
Come on baby...don't fear the reaper  
Baby take my hand...don't fear the reaper  
We'll be able to fly...don't fear the reaper  
Baby I'm your man...  
Love of two is one  
Here but now they're gone  
Came the last night of sadness  
And it was clear she couldn't go on  
Then the door was open and the wind appeared  
The candles blew then disappeared  
The curtains flew then he appeared...saying don't be afraid  
Come on baby...and she had no fear  
And she ran to him...then they started to fly  
They looked backward and said goodbye...she had become like they are  
She had taken his hand...she had become like they are  
Come on baby...don't fear the reaper_

Both Ty and Sam looked up when they heard the sound of a car pull up and the familiar purr of the Impala's engine cut out. Ty forced herself to remain calm as she sat cross-legged on the bed in the motel room, waiting for John and Dean to come in. Sam pushed his chair away from the old desk in the corner and moved to the door. He opened it just as his dad and brother approached.

"What's going on, Sam?" Dean asked his brother, "You didn't say much on the phone."

Sam gestured back at Ty, "She's got a plan."

Dean groaned aloud, causing Ty's eyes to narrow as she glared at him. He refused to meet her gaze, instead entering the room and moving around it, inspecting his surroundings. John entered last, closing the door behind him before turning to Ty with a questioning expression.

Ty took a deep breath, "Sam and I found the kid."

John nodded and gestured for her to continue. Sam had returned to his chair and was also watching her intently. Dean had moved to the window and was peering outside.

"Her name's Lindsay Waggoner and Liz says she's definitely the right kid. Sam and I drew a Devil's Trap around the house, but we need to watch her in case someone breaks the circle." Ty explained, trying to make her voice sound unquestionable.

Apparently it didn't work on Dean. He turned around, eyes flashing as he actually looked at her for the first time since he entered the room, "So, you want us to forget about protecting you and save this kid instead?"

Ty had known Dean wouldn't just accept the situation without a fight. She sighed and shook her head, "No, Dean. I think that Sam and John should go keep an eye on Lindsay while you and I stay here in case the demon decides he likes me better. That way we can still spring our trap if he shows, but Lindsay will be safe in case he goes after her instead."

"Yeah, one problem with that: we only have one magic gun." Dean snapped.

"Dean, Sam drew the Devil's Trap in here. I'll probably be fine. It's Lindsay I'm worried about since I don't think a Devil's Trap that large is going to stay intact for very long. That's why John and Sam should take the gun and stay with her. But, since I figured you wouldn't believe me, you stay here and make sure I'm not wrong."

"Dad." Dean turned to his father for support.

John shook his head, "Sorry, son. I'm inclined to agree with her. We can't know where it will go, so we have to split up. I don't want to lose this thing again."

Dean looked like he couldn't believe his ears. He whirled around to face Sam, but his brother was already shaking his head, too, "I'm with Ty on this."

"I can't believe this!" Dean exclaimed, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

Ty rolled her eyes, "Oh, get over it, Dean."

Dean spun back towards Ty, furious eyes catching hers again. He looked like he wanted to punch something. Ty, being who she was, decided that rather than try to defuse the situation, something she wasn't good at anyway, she would offer him a smile and piss him off more. Dean growled low in his throat, fists balling even tighter at his sides before he suddenly stomped back through the door, letting it slam behind him.

"I was expecting something like that." Ty commented out loud as she continued to look at the door, waiting to hear the Impala roar back to life.

She didn't have to wait long before the engine started and the car peeled out of the parking lot. Ty transferred her gaze to Sam, figuring he would be the easiest to convince.

"Can you talk to him?" she asked.

"When he gets like this sometimes it's best to just leave him alone." Sam advised.

"Please, Sam. We don't have time for Dean to work his stupidity out." Ty persisted. She paused before she added, "Besides, I'd like a few minutes alone to think about all this."

"Sam, let's find your brother." John said.

Sam sighed, knowing talking to Dean was going to be like pulling teeth, but got up and headed for the door. John stepped aside to let him pass. Ty looked up and caught John looking at her. Ty couldn't be certain, but there was something in the way John was looking at her that made her think he knew what she was up to. John nodded at her before leaving, adding fuel to her suspicions, but if the nod was any indication, he was going to let her do it.

As soon as the door closed, Ty got up and moved to the window, watching as the truck drove off. When it was out of sight, she turned back to the bed. She had some work to do and she had to act quickly in case Dean decided to flip a bitch and come back and yell at her some more or Sam and John gave up looking for him. Minutes later, Ty finished the most important part of her plan and made sure that no one would know she had done anything. She had to make sure everything looked the same. The Winchesters could not know what she was planning.

Satisfied with her work, Ty got up and laid down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. For once in her life, her mind was blank. She wasn't thinking anything and it was soothing. She memorized the patterns of the ceiling, feeling disengaged already, like tonight had already happened and she was just reflecting on it. Ty was somewhat relieved when she heard a car pull up, pushing herself up off the bed and going to the window. It was Dean. John's giant truck was nowhere in sight, so Ty assumed Dean had decided to come back on his own.

Dean stormed back into the motel room in a fury.

'_Apparently he's still mad_.' Ty mused.

"What is wrong with you anyway?" Dean demanded without any preamble.

Ty smiled a little before she relied, "Welcome back, Dean. You want the long or the short answer to that?"

Dean stared at her as if trying to decide whether she was kidding or not. Ty decided to try and cut off any further outbursts he might make by stepping closer to him. She didn't want to get too deep into this argument with him. He was liable to get something out of her that might ruin everything. So, Ty cautiously moved into Dean's space, looking up at him with a smile that she hoped wasn't too tragic.

"Dean, this needs to end. This demon hunt, the thing with the child sacrifices, all of it. We can't let that thing open the hell-gate. You know that." she insisted softly, her body language communicating her resignation despite the fact that inwardly she was starting to feel the pressure of it all.

Dean sighed and all the anger seemed to drain out of him. He ran a hand through his hair, looking up at the ceiling before settling his gaze on her face, "Not to be all chick-flick or anything since that's Sam's department, but this sucks."

Ty laughed, "Yeah, you can say that again."

Dean smiled slightly, apparently glad to have made her laugh. Ty couldn't resist reaching up to touch his face. Apparently, being this close to death made her amazingly touchy-feely, "At least I got to meet you guys in this past crazy freaking week."

Dean nodded, adopting a serious face, "And have some amazing sex."

Ty shoved Dean a little, "Ass."

"You love me." Dean replied with complete confidence.

"I am pretty damned fond of you." Ty admitted.

"Yeah, you're not so bad yourself." Dean replied.

Ty smirked, knowing that was as close as either of them was ever going to get in the way of admitting any heartfelt emotions. Well, she'd take what she could get.

"Alright." Ty said, clapping her hands together loudly and putting an end to the drama, "Now that the mushy stuff is out of the way let's get your dad and brother back here and kill some bad guys."

Dean nodded slowly, staring at her, "That is so hot."

Ty grinned and winked at Dean, "I am awesome."

"And modest, too." Dean added as he pulled out his phone.

Ty rolled her eyes and strolled back to the bed, plopping back down. She thought to herself '_Hey, I'm knocking on death's door. I don't have time for modesty_' but she couldn't say that out loud. She had to play the hero which meant that she had to act like nothing was wrong except the normal pre-hunt apprehension. Well, she could do that. Besides, appearing emotionless outwardly while she freaked out internally was like second nature to her by now.

"Sam," Dean said into his phone, "I'm back at the motel with Ty. Yeah, you can come on back now. No, we're not having hot, steamy make-up sex. Yet."

Dean winked at Ty and she rolled her eyes.

"Yep. See you when you get here." Dean snapped the phone shut and slipped it back in his pocket.

Silence fell over the motel room for a moment, awkward and stifling. Ty's eyes roamed around the room and she bit her lip as she tried not to let the quiet get to her. She knew what she had to do and how this all had to play out, but the waiting still sucked. She just wanted to get this over with, not agonize over the repercussions. Besides, the longer she had to wait until the demon struck, the greater the possibility a Winchester might try to stop her.

"Well, this is fun." Dean commented, shifting his weight between his feet.

"Not awkward at all." Ty nodded, eyes drifting back to the ceiling.

Dean must have seen where her gaze had wandered because he was suddenly sitting next to her, drawing her attention away from the ceiling and to him. He offered her that half-smile, half-smirk of his that made her feel slightly queasy in the pit of her stomach.

"Dean?" Ty asked, although she wasn't sure why she was speaking out loud.

"Yeah?"

'_Ask him about the hunt, make a smart ass remark. Don't say something stupid. Don't get all emotional. He'll know_.' Ty thought to herself. Out loud she found herself saying, "Should I be worried that our relationship is based on classic rock and demon hunting?"

Dean grinned, "Hey, I've had a longer relationship with classic rock and hunting than just about anything else in my life."

Ty grinned back and desperately tried to steer away from the sentimental crap her subconscious seemed determined to keep bringing up, "Does that mean I'm allowed to leave you for the ghost of Jim Morrison?"

"Necrophilia? Didn't think you were into that." Dean quipped.

"Yeah, you're right." Ty admitted, "You know me so well."

Dean shrugged, "I try."

"So," Ty continued, trying to keep the conversation going, "if we make it out of this, can I drive the Impala?"

Dean considered it, "Sweetheart, we make it out of this in one piece, I'll let you drive the car and pick the music."

"Sweet!" Ty exclaimed, "We are totally going to be rocking the Pat Benetar."

Dean grimaced.

"Heart?" Ty offered.

Dean still looked pained.

"Stevie Nicks?" Ty said, giving him a look that said if he didn't agree to Stevie, he was insane.

Dean continued to look like he had a nasty case of indigestion. Ty sighed and shook her head, "You have no class, Winchester."

Dean shrugged again, making no apologies for himself, "So I've heard."

Ty heard the rumble of an engine outside and got up to look out the window, mussing Dean's hair as she did so. Dean swatted at her hand, grumbling, and Ty grinned. Sure enough, a glance out the window showed that it was John and Sam returning. The sun was setting in the distance behind them and Ty felt a shiver of anticipation course through her. It was time to get this show on the road.

Unable to wait for Sam and John to enter the motel, Ty exited the room and met them in the parking lot. Dean followed her.

"You guys should head over to the Waggoner place." Ty said, coming to stand near John's door.

John nodded, leaning out the open window, "You two be careful."

"Of course." Ty nodded back. She looked past John at Sam, "Make sure you kill the evil bastard for me, okay, Sammy?"

Sam nodded, his face set in a somewhat frighteningly determined look. It was clear that he was going to end this at all costs tonight. Ty hoped that would be the case for all their sakes.

Ty stepped back so that John could back up and pull out again. She watched them go, not bothering to wave. She just stood there and watched until the truck was gone.

"It'll be okay." Dean said from behind her, "We weren't ready for it before. We'll get it this time."

Ty nodded silently before turning and going back inside. Phase one of her plan had gone off without a hitch. Phase two would probably be a little more difficult. It couldn't be rushed and it had to seem genuine. How else was she going to get Dean to go along with it?

"I've got to pee. Be right back." Ty announced, heading straight for the bathroom.

Impending doom or not, when you've got to go, you've got to go. Besides, Ty needed a moment alone to prepare herself. So, after washing her hands, she took a moment to look at herself in the mirror. The bruising around her throat was fading and her hair hid the still tender spot on her head where Dean had knocked her unconscious on that first hunt. In fact, the bruises on her chest were already fading to a yellowish green and the cuts on her back barely hurt anymore. Ty reviewed each wound and listed it mentally with some degree of pride. Those were battle wounds, evidence that she had done something dangerous. And now that the end was so near, she felt that everything leading up to this moment had somehow prepared her for this: the possession in the car, the hunt with the gypsies and losing Liz had all made it possible for her to do what she had to now. Ty believed in destiny, it was part of the reason why she'd been so adamant about going with the Winchesters in the first place and now it felt like she'd figured hers out.

'_Could've done worse, I suppose_.' she told herself, before straightening and heading back into the room.

Ty returned to the bed, sitting down with her back propped against the headboard and reached for the remote on the nightstand. She had just turned the TV on and was flipping through channels when Dean entered from outside, carrying a duffle bag. Ty watched as he settled himself next to her, setting the bag on the ground next to him and pulled a gun out. His eyes wandered from the gun to the TV and back again as he began to idly clean the weapon, taking it apart and then reassembling it. Ty found herself slightly transfixed by the sight.

"Dean?" she asked, feeling as though her throat had gone inexplicably dry.

"Hmm?" Dean asked, placing the weapon back in his bag and removing another.

"Do you have any idea how hot that is?" Ty asked.

Dean's head shot up and he turned to look at her. Eyebrows were raised, mouth formed into a partial smirk although he still looked a little skeptical, eyes shining more green than anything else at the moment. Ty paused. What she had to do made her feel kind of cheap and dirty, but at least it was Dean. And, she had to admit to herself, she actually did have feelings for him, probably more than she should. Plus, it had to be done. So, Ty leaned closer to him, pressing a kiss to his lips that silently begged for him not to question her. Ty felt Dean set the gun aside on the nightstand before his arms encircled her form, drawing her closer. She complied, like a moth to the flame, moving in closer to him and clinging to him more desperately.

"Wait!" Dean exclaimed, breaking off the kiss and pushing her away slightly.

"What?" Ty asked, careful to keep her emotions hidden.

"Don't you think this might not be the best time, given the givens?" Dean asked, his brother's warnings about the vision overcoming his desire.

Ty really hated what she had to do, but somehow she was able to make the words come out of her mouth, "Dean, I might die tonight. I don't think I will because the demon's going to go after that girl. I'm perfectly safe here with you. But, if this is going to be my last night, I want to end it on a high note, damn it."

Dean's eyes searched her face, "You do like to invite disaster, don't you?"

Ty rolled her eyes at him, "Dean, we're in the middle of a Devil's Trap and you've got more weapons in reach than a freaking marine. What could happen?"

"Given your luck and the Winchester family history?" Dean challenged in return.

"Dean," Ty said, leveling him with a look, "it's going to end tonight. You guys are going to kill that demon. You and I both know that tomorrow morning you're going to drive me home and who knows if I'll ever see you again. This is probably our last chance to be alone together so...just...don't fuck it up, okay? And since when do I have to talk you into sex? What the hell?"

Dean grinned, leaning over her again and bringing their faces very close together, "You calling me easy?"

"You are a man-whore, Dean Winchester." Ty said with as much seriousness as she could, nodding solemnly.

Dean closed the space between them for just a moment, brushing her lips with his before pulling away about an inch again, "I can't help it that women love me."

"Ass." Ty muttered, reaching up and pulling him close again, silencing him with a deep kiss.

Somehow, thoughts of anything other than Dean left Ty's head as she found herself lost in his fiery kisses. She forgot how much she hated using him like this, she forgot her own apprehension about what she was doing, forgot the eerie feeling of déjà vu that momentarily swept over her as she found her vision coming true. All that mattered was Dean and Ty found herself temporarily scared shitless not by the fact that her vision had ended in her death, but by the fact that her feelings for Dean were so strong. If she was going to die, she might as well be honest with herself. She loved the damn stubborn smart aleck.

Ty somehow managed to keep that revelation to herself as she and Dean erased the distinction between their two forms. She settled for simply gasping his name, clinging to him as if he was a life raft and she was drowning at sea even after they were both spent. She loved how it felt to be held in his arms, close enough to hear his pulse and feel his gradually slowing breathing.

'_If I've got to die, there's not another way I'd want to go._' Ty thought to herself, '_Okay, you yellow-eyed bastard. If you're going to take me, get it over with already._'

Ty blinked and she was no longer cozying up to Dean, but was looking down at him from above. Her back hit the ceiling, causing her breath to rush out of her lungs and her eyes to widen in surprise. A dark figure stood next to the bed, yellow eyes glowing in the darkness.

"If you insist." the shadowy figure hissed, mouth twisting in a smile.

"Shit!" Dean exclaimed, scrambling to react, moving quickly to retrieve a weapon.

"I don't think so, Dean." the demon shook his head, still smiling, and flicked a hand in Dean's direction, sending him flying back onto the bed, pinning him against the headboard.

Ty struggled, tried to say something, but her mouth wouldn't work. She felt like there was a weight pressing down on her lungs, making it impossible to speak or move.

"How the fuck...?" Dean growled, desperately fighting against the demon's hold.

"Did I get in here?" the demon finished for him. His grin widened, "Oh, why don't you ask your girlfriend?"

Dean's eyes found Ty's, wide and horrified. He was shaking his head, not believing that she would actually invite the damn thing in, cause all this to happen. Ty couldn't say anything to explain herself, so she simply closed her eyes against his expression. Dean took that as admission of guilt and his jaw dropped.

"Why? Why would you...?" Dean sputtered.

'_Let me explain myself to him, damn it!_' Ty snapped at the demon in her thoughts.

"That's not how this works, little girl." the demon snarled in return. He then turned his attention back to Dean, "Don't look so surprised, Dean. You two are so much alike. Always playing the hero, so willing to sacrifice yourselves. She just couldn't let me take that innocent little girl, so she had to draw me here."

"The Devil's Trap..." Dean half-heartedly protested, already knowing that the demon was telling him the truth.

The demon flicked his hand again and the bed slid across the carpet just an inch, exposing the broken Devil's Trap that Ty had scrubbed out when the Winchesters had left her alone. The demon allowed Dean to move just enough so that he could push himself up and look down at the broken symbol before it shoved him back again.

"She asked me here, Dean." the demon said, taunting him with the futility of his actions to save her.

Dean was silent for a moment and from her vantage point Ty could see the pain on his face and in his eyes. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a breath before he opened them again. Now his hazel eyes shown with anger and he fought against the pressure holding him once again.

"Why her? What does she have to do with any of this?" he demanded.

The demon began to idly pace back and forth beside the bed, unconcerned by either Dean or Ty, "Well, Dean, it's not really about her. It's not even about you. It's about Sammy. It's always been about Sammy. I took your mom and Sammy's little girlfriend because they stood in the way. Now you're between me and him."

"So leave her out of this then, you sick bastard! If it's me you want out of the way, then take me!" Dean yelled.

The demon paused in his pacing and leaned over Dean. Dean tried desperately to strike him, but was still unable to move any of his limbs.

"Because Dean, that's not the way to get rid of you. Killing you would just make Sam that much more unreachable. Besides, you're liable to stick around instead of moving on like a good little dead person. Nope, the way to really destroy you Winchesters has always been through the women you love."

With those words, the demon's gaze transferred to Ty. Searing, hot pain flashed across Ty's midsection, followed by the sticky sensation of oozing blood. Ty silently gasped in pain. She couldn't see it, but she could feel blood spreading across her stomach, flowing from a large gash. Dean was yelling and the demon was laughing. Ty closed her eyes against the noise and the pain for a moment. When she opened them again, the demon was suddenly gone. She watched as Dean was released from its hold. He quickly searched the room for the demon's presence, but it was nowhere in sight. And yet, Ty could still hear it. It was whispering to her, just like in the vision. It was telling her that she would be the one to bring an end to the Winchesters, that she had caused it. She tried to argue with it, but it was no use. In trying to save that girl and stop the demon, she had played right into its hands. She felt tears build up in her eyes as she realized that she had been wrong about this. This was what the demon had wanted. This had all been about getting her to betray the Winchesters in a foolhardy attempt to save them. What she had done would destroy Dean, leave Sam open to the demon's plans. It was all her fault.

Dean was standing on the bed now, trying to reach her, but Ty could already feel the heat of fire building around her. The heat and the flames as they grew large enough to enter her field of vision were not surprising, nor was the pain, but she screamed silent agony anyway, tears scalding her cheeks as the fire licked at her flesh. She wanted to tell Dean to leave, to apologize, to beg him not to give up like the demon wanted, but he couldn't hear her mental pleas. Ty's vision was already blurring from the overwhelming pain. She could only vaguely hear Dean's screams now, but she concentrated hard on them anyway, hoping that in doing so she might be able to block out some of the searing, hot pain.

"Stop! Stop it! No! I want to make a deal! Leave her alone and I'll deal!" Dean was screaming.

Ty could barely see anything anymore nor did she much want to. All she wanted was for the pain to end. The fire rolled over her, burying her in the flames, choking her with its heat. Blissfully, she finally blacked out from the pain and yet something strange happened. Even as she felt herself fall from consciousness, her mind and body give out, sensations didn't end. She couldn't see anything, but she the pain had stopped and she felt like she was falling. The darkness in her vision gradually lightened and suddenly she could see again.

Dean was still standing on the bed, gasping breaths. His face was the picture of desperation, but the tears were still shocking. Before him stood the demon, a dark shape that had reappeared suddenly. Over their heads, Ty saw her own body, frozen amidst the flames. It was surreal. It was like someone had pressed pause on her death scene. The flames didn't move, just hovered around her like some kind of strange cocoon.

'_Am I dead?_' Ty wondered, looking down at herself.

She looked normal to herself and yet neither Dean nor the demon seemed aware of her presence. She moved closer to them, but neither acknowledged her.

"Deal, Winchester?" the demon was asking, "What kind of deal?"

Dean's eyes flitted back and forth frantically as he thought of what the demon could possibly accept in Ty's stead. It had already refused his offer of himself and yet Dean could not let this last opportunity to save her pass.

"The Colt!" Dean exclaimed, "I'll give you the Colt."

Ty moved from around the demon to Dean's side. She tried to touch him, but it was like he was a hologram or something. She tried to tell him not to give up the only weapon they had against this monster, but he couldn't hear her. Ty was growing more and more convinced that she might be having an out-of-body experience.

The demon looked to be considering the offer, but he shook his head, "Not good enough. Someone has to die tonight, Dean. You choose. Either it's your girlfriend or the little girl."

Dean paused, "What happens if I pick the kid?"

The demon shrugged nonchalantly, "I add one more kid to my list. Oh, and the gate to hell opens up."

Ty would have thought there would be no question for Dean after that. He had to let her go. He couldn't let the demon unleash any more of its minions from hell. And yet, Dean was standing there frozen, thinking, considering.

"I don't have the gun." Dean finally said slowly, "But I can get it."

The demon looked up at Dean, surprise evident on its face, "Dean Winchester, are you saying that you're going to let that poor, innocent girl die and let me set free more demons than you can imagine?"

Dean paused again and Ty prayed that he was changing his mind, seeing the light. But he nodded, dashing her hopes, "I want her back."

"Huh. Well, that's rather selfish of you, Dean. Not what I expected. But if that's what you want." he shrugged, "Get the gone and meet me at the cemetery."

'_Dean, no!_' Ty screamed ineffectually.

But there was nothing she could do. The next thing she knew, the demon waved a hand at her incinerated body on the ceiling and it blinked out of existence and Ty found herself drawn into oblivion with it.


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers and everyone who poked and prodded me to finish this. I hope you all enjoy it. Also, I'm posting the soundtrack for this if anyone wants it on my livejournal. My LJ name is Ty599.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Unwinnable Wars

_There Are No Unlockable Doors  
There Are No Unwinnable Wars  
There Are No Unrightable Wrongs  
Or Unsingable Songs_

There Are No Unbeatable Odds  
There Are No Believable Gods  
There Are No Unnameable Names,  
Shall I Say It Again, Yeah

There Are No Impossible Dreams  
There Are No Invisible Seams  
Each Night When Day Is Through  
I Don't Ask Much  
I Just Want You  
I Just Want You

There Are No Uncriminal Crimes  
There Are No Unrhymable Rhymes  
There Are No Identical Twins  
Or Forgivable Sins

There Are No Incurable Ills  
There Are No Unkillable Thrills  
One Thing And You Know It's True  
I Don't Ask Much  
I Just Want You  
I Just Want You  
I Just Want You  
I Just Want You

I'm Sick And Tired Of Bein' Sick And Tired  
I Used To Go To Bed So High And Wired  
Yeah - Yeah, Yeah, Yeah  
I Think I'll Buy Myself Some Plastic Water  
I Guess I Should Have Married Lennon's Daughter  
Yeah - Yeah, Yeah, Yeah

There Are No Unachievable Goals  
There Are No Unsaveable Souls  
No Legitimate Kings Or Queens,  
Do You Know What I Mean? Yeah

There Are No Undisputable Truths  
And There Ain't No Fountain Of Youth  
Each Night When Day Is Through  
I Don't Ask Much  
I Just Want You 

Ty felt like she'd woken up from one hell of a dream. Except that when she opened her eyes, she found herself standing inexplicably in the middle of a cemetery, completely disoriented and chilled to the bone because she was still only clad in Dean's shirt and her underwear which she had pulled on following their "activities" earlier. Even on a kamikaze mission, Ty wasn't about to face death buck naked. Thankfully, the clothes were as mysteriously unscorched as the rest of her at the moment.

Something moved behind her. Ty spun around and found herself staring into the face of the yellow-eyed demon, its sickly-looking orbs piercing her blue ones as it grinned at her. Ty instinctively backed away, her memory of what had just occurred coming back to her in a flash.

"What the hell is going on?" Ty demanded, nearly tripping over a headstone as she continued to back away from the demon.

"Well, Ty." the demon answered, drawing out her name tauntingly as he moved towards her, "What's going on is that I brought you back from the dead. Say thank you."

"Where's Dean?" Ty spat the question at the demon instead, continuing to edge back around tombstones.

"Oh, trying to figure out some way to double-cross me, I expect." the demon rolled its eyes, unconcerned.

Ty's eyes searched her surroundings frantically, looking for some way to escape and yet knowing at the same time that it was pointless to do so. When all her roaming eyes took in were the dark shadows of trees and row upon row of grave markers, she finally paused in her retreat, squaring her shoulders and turning back towards the demon to face it, "So what am I doing here now?"

The demon smiled at her, a knowing smile that made Ty's heart sink in her chest. The demon was now looming over her, looking down into her upturned face. Ty wished fleetingly that she was taller so that it wouldn't be able to use height against her on top of everything, but the thought barely registered in her brain. There was too much to worry about at the moment for her own inane inner ramblings to matter at all.

"I'm so glad you asked." the demon said, smile widening. Moonlight overhead caste a sick gleam over his expression, making it seem even more twisted than his features portrayed. Ty shuddered, "See, I have a little surprise for the Winchesters that I need your help with."

Ty opened her mouth to protest, to tell the demon straight up that there was no way she would ever help it, not again. She wanted to adamantly refuse to ever be a part of its plans again. She wanted to even toss in a few threats, tell it that the only plan she would ever be a part of would be one that included sending it straight back to hell. And yet as the neurons in her brain fired, telling the muscles in her jaw to open her mouth and her lungs pulled in the air to form her words, the figure before her flung its head back, its own mouth opening wide as a dark cloud spewed forth. Ty jumped, leaping back from the scene. And, just her luck, her foot caught a tree root behind her that she hadn't known existed until that moment and she found herself falling backwards, landing hard on her backside. The pain was nothing, though, because she was still staring wide-eyed at the demonic cloud of darkness that had swarmed out of the mouth of the man before her and was currently rushing down towards her. Instinctively, Ty screamed, but before the sound could become something more than the intake of breath, the inky cloud of evil poured into her throat, strangling her cry. Ty felt like she was drowning and her body convulsed as she choked. This wasn't the insipid loss of control that had snuck up on her when the ghost of Angela Hamilton took control of her body. This was like dying. It was sudden and terrifying and overpowering. There was nothing she could do to stop it. She knew it and so did the demon that was taking her. It coated her insides; she could feel it moving swiftly through her like slime, contaminating every part of her. The process felt like an eternity and a millisecond all at once.

As if in a dream, Ty felt her body stop shaking and her limbs move, pushing her back to her feet. It was like she was far away, watching someone else pull the strings and yet feeling the tug, too, at the same time. She looked around and yet felt someone force her to look around.

'_Well, isn't it just nice and cozy in here?_' a voice inside her head thought, a voice that wasn't her own, thinking thoughts that weren't her own.

'_What the fuck?_' Ty thought in response.

Ty felt herself grin in response to her thought, '_Oh, what's the matter, Ty? Don't want to share?_'

'_Get out of me!_' Ty screeched, desperately trying to make some part of her body respond to her desires rather than the new presence inside her.

'_Now, now_.' the demon replied, '_Don't be such a bad host. I could just lock you away and do whatever I want without you even knowing, but I thought I'd be nice and let you come along for the ride_.'

Ty screamed inside her mind, demanding that her eyes look at what she wanted, that her hands move as she commanded, fighting her own body's betrayal. Yet, try as she might she couldn't even cause a twitch of a muscle. She was merely a passenger inside her own skin.

'_And here I thought being burned alive on the ceiling was going to be the worst part of my night tonight_.' Ty grumbled.

The demon chuckled in response, the sound issuing out of Ty's mouth. Ty's attention was then turned to the slowly stirring figure of the man whose body has been discarded in favor of hers. He was starting to regain consciousness, eyes blinking as hands moved under him to push himself up. Ty found herself moving forward towards him and she felt the demon's intent before it acted. She screamed inside herself, trying again to influence her body's actions. But she couldn't. She couldn't even stop herself from seeing it as the demon used her form to fall upon his former host, used her still bandaged hands to squeeze his throat, summoning more force than Ty had ever actually possessed to crush his windpipe. Ty could feel the body go limp in her hands and yet it was the demon that decided when she let go, caused her to push the body disdainfully away from her and straighten. Ty found herself wishing inexplicably for a return to oblivion, the white-hot pain of the fire, anything but this.

"Oh, but Ty. We're just getting started." the demon protested, twisting Ty's lips upward in a grin.

To say that she didn't like the sound of that didn't even begin to cover it. Ty watched, as if from the passenger seat of her own life as the demon caused them to stride across the cemetery towards a shadowy structure on the outskirts. As they got closer, Ty decided that the ruined building looked kind of like a church. Then she remembered the information that she had skimmed over briefly on the Internet when she had looked up Stull, Kansas. Apparently the building mysteriously caught fire back in the '60s, although no two stories Ty read on it agreed on the circumstances. Ty's shoes crunched on broken glass as the demon directed her forward, closer to the building. The church was also rumored to have walls that glass could bounce off of unbroken. Whether or not that was true, Ty could only surmise by all the broken glass surrounding the ruins. Still, whatever the truth concerning this building, nothing good could come from the demon wanting to go inside.

'_What are you doing?_' Ty demanded as the demon moved through the charred remains of doors and inside the wrecked formation.

The demon ignored her and continued onward with purpose towards what at one time was probably the altar, although nothing remained that would indicate it as such. The demon raised Ty's hand and trailed her fingers across the bricks of the wall at the back of the church. Ty tried to gleam something of its thoughts, its plans, but she could only see its actions, not the mind behind them. She didn't like how his touch on the wall was like a caress. It worried her how single-mindedly it had moved towards this place and how confident it seemed. It was as if this turn of events was even more pleasing to it than it had originally foreseen.

"This is the place." the demon said out loud, unexpectedly, "Now, where are those Winchesters?"

The demon turned Ty back towards the entrance, casting her eyes about for any indication that they weren't alone. Ty got the feeling that it was all for show, however. It would know if the Winchesters were here. It was merely continuing to toy with her.

"They can't be too far. Maybe they're having some trouble finding the place." the demon mused, "I know just the way to help them."

Ty barely had a moment to wonder what the demon could be planning when it sucked in a deep breath and expelled it in a loud scream.

"Dean! Help me! God, anybody!" the demon screamed with her voice.

Ty mentally cringed when she heard an answering yell in the distance, "Ty!"

The demon snickered before backing anxiously against the wall, casting her eyes about nervously and playing the part of a terrified girl, plunked down in the middle of something sinister. Ty couldn't help but feel slightly indignant that she was being cast as the damsel-in-distress, but her dignity was really the last thing she had to worry about.

Loud and rapid footfalls signaled his approach before Dean appeared in the entryway, shotgun in hand. His eyes swept the room before they landed on her.

"Where is it?" he demanded as he moved quickly to her, moving to stand slightly in front of her and searching the room with his eyes.

The demon made her head shake quickly and her voice quiver slightly, "I don't know. What happened?"

Before Dean could respond, Sam appeared in the moonlit entry, also with a gun at the ready. He paused where he stood, his eyes seeking Dean's in the gloom, silently asking him what was going on.

"It's here somewhere." Dean said with certainty, "Ty wouldn't be here if it wasn't close by."

"Closer than you think." the demon purred with Ty's voice and Ty just caught the reflection of her eyes flashing yellow in Dean's hazel gaze as he spun around to face her.

Ty instantly found herself staring at the barrel of Dean's shotgun. Out of the corner of her eye, she could also see Sam had his gun raised and leveled at her. The demon responded by making her lips curl in a vicious grin.

"Now, now. You wouldn't shoot her. That would kind of defeat the purpose of this whole deal." it pointed out.

"Get out of her." Dean growled, his eyes burning with fury, shotgun unwavering.

The demon continued to smile, pushing Dean's gun aside with one hand and moving past him into the center of the room, "No. Not yet. Being in here? Well, it's the best kind of insurance."

The demon looked around and frowned, "Where's John?"

"Right here." the eldest Winchester's low voice called as he stepped into view, moving past Sam and into the room.

Like both his boys, John's hands were clutching a weapon. The difference was, John was holding the Colt. He moved to stand opposite Dean so that the demon was standing in the center of the three men with Sam blocking the exit. Ty knew these men, trusted them with her life, and she was pretty scared at the moment. She hoped the demon was damn near peeing itself. Although, hopefully not using her body. Ty winced mentally and told herself to shut up.

"John," the demon greeted, smiling again, "so nice to see you again. Funny how we keep meeting like this."

A muscle in John's jaw twitched, but he was otherwise motionless. The demon made Ty roll her eyes.

"Oh, come on, John. Don't be mad at me. Dean's the one who screwed up your chance at wasting me this time." the demon said, jerking a thumb back over Ty's shoulder at Dean, "He's the one who decided that this silly girl is more important than your revenge, that little girl, hell, than everybody." The demon turned to face Dean, "But don't worry, Dean. It makes her feel all kinds of special. She makes it out of this, you'll definitely be getting some."

"Shut it!" Dean snapped, moving one heavy step closer before he stopped himself.

Ty wished she wasn't aware of this. She wished the demon had shut her out completely. Being a passive part of all this was so much worse than being oblivious. The words the demon was flinging at the Winchesters ate at her soul, the guilt eating at her slowly. She had been so stupidly thrilled to think that Dean cared about her at all, she just hadn't thought about what it might cost him or anyone else. She should have left it at a one-night stand when she'd shared Sam's vision. She should have stayed out of it like Dean had suggested, stayed away from him. But she had been selfish and look where it had gotten them.

The demon was laughing, shaking her head at Dean, "Oh, Dean. Still pretending that you could actually be a threat to me? That's cute. I know for a fact that of the three of you, dear old dad here is the only one with the balls to pull the trigger and pretty, innocent, little Ty."

Ty felt herself turn around and move closer to John who was still aiming the Colt at her head. She looked past the gun and up into his eyes, the demon making her features form a more serious, thoughtful expression, "I mean, you've already ruined your boys' lives so many times, caused them so much pain. What's one more time? So you kill Dean's girl, probably the only one he'll ever find that's crazy enough to actually love his worthless self? You'll finally get your revenge! All this will finally be over, after two decades of hunting, you'll have finally avenged Mary. Isn't that what this is all about?"

The look on John's face made Ty think that he might actually be buying into what the demon was saying. Which made Ty wonder why the damn thing would be trying to talk him into killing it. Did the demon have a death-wish?

"Dad." Dean said, his voice clipped.

Ty felt the demon make her glance between them, watch as John's eyes flickered over to his son. Dean shook his head once, a nonverbal plea that, coupled with the look on his face, said more than words ever could. Ty's heart hurt to witness it, but she pleaded for John not to listen anyway. The demon grinned and Ty finally got it. It wanted to cause this conflict, make whatever outcome came out of this as painful for the Winchesters as possible. Ty burned with hatred for the thing, wishing she could kill it herself.

Dean inched around her, moving towards his father without taking his eyes off her. The demon was unconcerned, its gaze wandering around the room.

"Dad," Dean said when he reached his father's side and they both faced the demon, "give me the gun."

John didn't move.

"Dad!" Dean repeated, more urgently.

John's gaze moved to Dean and he slowly lowered his arms. Dean reached over and took the gun from his father's hands and John didn't stop him. Instead, he reached behind him and pulled out another weapon, raising it and aiming it at the demon, no matter how ineffectual it might be in comparison to the Colt.

"Gee, that was heart-breaking." the demon deadpanned, "And I thought Sam was the dramatic one."

"You want the damn gun, get out of her." Dean snapped.

"Easy there, tiger. Keep up that attitude and I might just decide to keep her, seeing as how I'm nice and safe while I'm in here." the demon replied and Ty mentally blanched at that idea. She had thought that she'd been through every hell imaginable already tonight, but the idea of being the demon's puppet indefinitely was a whole new level that she hadn't even considered.

"Fine." Dean said, visibly fighting for control over himself, "How does this play out?"

"You put the gun on the floor and back away. When I have it, you'll get the girl back." the demon answered.

Dean nodded and slowly crouched down and set the Colt on the floor. He straightened and both he and John backed slowly away. When they were a few feet back, the demon moved forward towards the gun, eyeing them to make sure they didn't try anything. It reached Ty's hand out and closed her fingers around the cool metal, pulling it back to her body. With the gun in hand, she straightened. The demon straightened her arm and moved her finger over the trigger. As the demon caused her finger to squeeze, firing a bullet into the back wall of the church at the exact spot where it had used her hand to caress the bricks earlier, she felt it ooze out of her body. Equally as terrifying as when it had possessed her, the demon's leaving felt like someone was literally tearing her apart. Ty felt herself fall to her knees as it freed itself from her. But, before it was totally gone, there was a loud bang. Ty felt a strange jolt and sort of saw a flash of light through her closed eyelids as if lightning had struck just above her. There was a sort of crackling heat for an instant that made Ty think that maybe she was back in the fire on the ceiling before she felt something light sprinkling her skin and she collapsed on the ground.

"Ty!" someone was calling her name, forcing her to come back to consciousness, "Come on, babe. Wake up."

Ty groaned and felt her eyelids flutter. She wasn't sure exactly what had happened or how long she had blacked out for, but the fact that she had the ability to control her own eyelids was a definite plus. Slowly, she opened her eyes and was slightly startled to find a pair of familiar hazel irises close to her face. Dean pulled away from her slightly, giving her some space with a bright smile on his face.

"Dean?" Ty questioned, "What happened?"

She struggled to get up, but her body felt like it had been put through the spin cycle a few too many times. Dean's arms moved around her and helped her into a sitting position. Looking around, she found that she was still in the old church in Stull and thankfully all three Winchester men were there with her. That fact, at the moment, was enough to make her say a silent thank you to whatever higher power there might be. But, unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

"The demon...?" she continued.

Dean shook his head, still smiling. He nodded towards Sam, seeing Ty's confusion, "No, I don't think so. I think Sam got it."

Ty looked over and her eyes narrowed as she caught sight of what Sam still clutched with both hands. He had the Colt. But that didn't make sense. Dean had given it to her, to the demon. She had fired it. Ty's eyes caste about the room and she found the gun lying on the ground close by, as if she had dropped it when she fell. And yet, Sam was holding it. There were two guns?

"What?" Ty asked, brow furrowing in confusion.

Dean's smile widened, making Ty almost want to smack him for not just telling her straight up what had happened already, "Dad pulled the old switcheroo."

Ty's eyebrows shot up and her eyes sought out John Winchester. He was still standing where she last remembered seeing him. He looked a little stunned, but he was also starting to smile the same relieved and amazed smile that graced Dean's features, "Trick worked on its kids. I was hoping it might work on him, too."

Ty's eyes returned to Dean. She needed to know everything and she needed to know now, "Dean Winchester, I want you to tell me exactly what just happened here."

Still smiling, Dean's eyes sparkled at Ty as he drew in a breath to tell her, but Sam cut him off, "Liz came to me and Dad. She told us that you had sabotaged the Devil's Trap and that you were planning on drawing the demon to you, but by the time we got there it was too late."

Ty's gaze was then drawn back to John as he spoke up, "I thought you were up to something like that. Gave Dean the gun, actually, thinking he might be able to take out the damn thing when it came for you."

"It was too strong." Dean said, shaking his head, "Maybe it knew because every time I tried to go for the gun, it would stop me. Plus, you know, I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that you're really _that_ crazy to call the freaking demon down on you."

He rolled his eyes at her, trying to make light of the situation, but Ty mentally flashed back on the way he had looked when he'd thought he lost her and was powerless to stop it, and when she looked at him now, she could still see remnants of that pain in his eyes. Impulsively, Ty threw her arms around Dean and hugged him, burying her face in his shoulder. Dean hugged her back gently, holding her loosely as he continued, "So, I did the only thing I could think of to buy some time and think of a new plan. Dad somehow still had the fake from last time, so we figured we'd distract it with the fake while Sam wasted it with the genuine article. Didn't expect it to be in you. That kind of threw a wrench in the plan."

Ty turned her face from Dean's shoulder so that she could look over at Sam. He smiled slightly at her and finished the story for his brother, "When I saw that it was leaving you, I figured it was the best shot I had."

Sam looked past them to John and frowned nervously, "Dad, do you think I really killed it? I mean, it wasn't in a body..."

"You saw what happened, Sam." Dean interrupted him, his voice insistent and final, "You dusted it. It's gone."

That reminded her. Ty looked down and saw that she was coated in a layer of ash. She grimaced when she realized that she was covered in the demon's remains and hastily pulled away from Dean to brush it off of her. Dean chuckled softly at her actions and climbed to his feet before offering her a hand. Ty took it and allowed him to pull her up. Her nose wrinkled in further disgust at the puff of dust that came off her as she stood. She needed to shower as soon as humanly possible.

John had moved to the back wall and was running a hand over the bullet hole in the bricks. He glanced back at Ty and caught her eye, "I think if that had been the real Colt, this would have become an open door to hell."

Ty shuddered at the thought. So much could have gone wrong tonight. It was really a miracle things had turned out this way. In fact, she could hardly believe it.

"God, somebody pinch me." Ty said out loud.

Dean immediately complied and reached a hand down to pinch her on the ass. Ty jumped and whirled around to punch him in the shoulder, "Ow! I didn't mean literally!"

Dean shrugged, "Be more specific next time."

But he was grinning from ear to ear and Ty was finding his happiness infectious. After all, how could she be upset with him when they had just defeated the yellow-eyed demon and lived to tell about it?

"I just can't believe it." Ty said truthfully, glancing around at the three men and the scene around them.

"Me neither." Sam agreed, "It's finally over?"

"After all this time." John echoed.

Stunned silence settled in the room for a moment as they all digested that fact, each man reflecting on everything that had happened to get them here. Ty could practically feel the emotions radiating from them. After all, this is what John had sacrificed his life to achieve, what Sam and Dean had been raised to believe was their ultimate goal.

"So who wants a beer?" Dean asked.

Ty couldn't help but laugh. Count on Dean to break the tension of even the most poignant of moments.

"Yeah, I could go for one." Ty nodded and Dean threw an arm around her shoulders, guiding her out of the ruined church.

Ty grabbed Sam's sleeve as Dean moved her past him and gave it a tug. Sam glanced up at her and she smiled at him. He had kept his promise to her to kill the demon after all. Sam smiled back and turned to follow them, slipping the now empty and useless Colt into the waist of his jeans. John trailed after them.

Walking out of the cemetery and over to the car, Ty slowly adjusted to the new state of the world. She hadn't expected to live through tonight and yet here she was walking away from it all. Even the air seemed sweeter as she pulled it into her lungs. This was a whole new world now without the yellow-eyed demon, one made even better by the fact that not only did she get to live in it, but so did all three of the Winchesters. No more children had died tonight and no portals to hell had been opened. Damn, Ty was not only ready for a beer, she wanted a freaking cake!

As they reached the Impala, a chill wind suddenly rose around them, causing goosebumps to cover Ty's exposed skin, making her realize that she was still rather immodestly clad. The realization made her momentarily blush since she didn't even like to wear shorts in public, but she wasn't really able to think about it because Liz materialized in front of her.

"Liz!" Ty cried, suddenly afraid that maybe the demon wasn't really gone if the girl was still a ghost.

"I just wanted to thank you." Liz said, sensing Ty's fear. The young girl smiled brightly up at her, "You did it!"

Ty smiled back at her, but sadness still pulled at her, "I just wish..."

Liz shook her head, cutting her off.

"Don't. It wasn't your fault. Stop thinking that." Liz smirked at her, "It's kind of annoying."

"Told you." Dean muttered at her side and Ty elbowed him in the ribs.

"So...now what? You're...moving on?" Ty asked.

Liz shrugged, "Yeah, I guess so. It's like...I don't know...like I can go now, but...I'm kind of scared."

Ty gave her an incredulous expression.

"You? Scared? You stood up to a freaking demon!" Liz smiled shyly, so Ty continued, "Go on, get out of here! Kick the afterlife's ass!"

Liz nodded quickly in agreement, a determined look on her face. Suddenly, there was a bright light that seemed to envelope the young girl. Ty and the Winchesters were forced to shield their eyes and when the light died out, Liz was gone.

Ty's eyes were welling with moisture and she quickly wiped it away, telling herself it was because of the bright light. Dean bumped her with his shoulder gently.

"Kick the afterlife's ass?" he questioned with a smirk.

"Oh, shut up." Ty rolled her eyes, smiling though because she had to admit that had been kind of corny.

Ty grabbed the door handle to the Impala and slid in the backseat. Dean, as usual, took the driver's spot and Sam claimed shotgun a moment later. They waited until John had reached his truck and climbed in before Dean turned the keys in the ignition and steered them away from the cemetery. No one said anything as Dean bypassed the route back to the motel and headed for the highway towards Lawrence. Ty couldn't blame him for wanting to leave Stull as soon as possible, although she swiftly found herself too exhausted to remain awake for the drive.

The next few days were something of a blur for Ty. While the Winchesters celebrated their victory, they also soon came to the realization that this way of life they had embraced was not easy to let go. John got a phone call scarcely two days after the incident in Stull from another hunter requesting his help with a colony of vampires. They woke the following morning to find him gone, a note on Missouri's kitchen table saying that he would call soon. Dean had cursed vehemently upon that discovery and Ty had sensed that it was partly because he had wanted to go with him. Even Sam seemed to be out of sorts without a hunt to go on, a mission to accomplish. So, Ty was hardly surprised when Dean woke her up and announced that they were taking her home so that they could track him down. She had figured it was only a matter of time before the holiday was over and she had to return to her life. But that was somehow okay with her, too. It seemed like most of life's problems were easier for her to deal with now seeing as how she was still just grateful to still be living period. Besides, Ty did still have some things that she wanted to wrap up back home before she plunged any deeper into this life that the Winchesters had opened up for her. Or any deeper into a life with a Winchester. So, Ty rolled with the punches and enjoyed her remaining time with Sam and Dean, convinced that this wasn't the last she would be seeing of them anyway. Which she ended up explaining to Dean as they stood outside her house in the middle of the night before they parted ways.

"So...this is it, huh?" Dean asked, rocking on his feet and awkwardly stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans. His stance said all kinds of things about the relationship she wanted, that he wasn't ready for and maybe she wasn't either, but the feelings were there. Ty almost sighed because she knew that she couldn't force it and instead reminded herself to be patient.

So, she shook her head and grinned, reflecting on the question she had asked the magic eight-ball before leaving with them on this adventure about whether she would end up with Dean, "Dude, your ass is mine. Magic eight-ball said so."

Dean looked slightly confused, but didn't question her. Sometimes it seemed best to just accept the crazy things she said and move on. Besides, he couldn't help but feel that she was right. He was strangely attached to her, maybe loved her as Sam endlessly teased. How else could you explain his irrational willingness to sacrifice just about anything else for this crazy chick, "So, what will you do now?"

"Well," Ty said slowly, "there's been some stuff in the local papers about some weird mutilations on some farms south of here. Some of the immigrants from Mexico are saying that it's a chupacabra."

Dean's eyes lit up at that, "Chupacabra? Maybe Sammy and I should stick around."

Ty grinned and shoved him a little, "And steal my hunt? No way."

Dean glanced heavenward, "I've created a monster."

Ty just smiled and grabbed Dean's shirt, pulling him close again to press a light kiss on his lips. He immediately moved a hand to the back of her head and made the kiss deeper and more heated than she had intended. When he slowly pulled away, Ty was a little breathless and her heart ached with the intense feelings he caused in her. She had absolutely no doubt that this wasn't the end for them.

"Bye, Dean." she breathed.

"Bye." Dean echoed, moving back towards the car and ducking inside. He pulled the door closed, "Call me if you need me. And send me a picture of that chupacabra. I've always wanted to see one."

"I will." Ty nodded.

With that Dean sent one last smile in her direction before pulling the car out past her. As the Impala moved out onto the road, Sam waved and Ty waved back. She watched as the car melded into the darkness of the night, unmoving until she couldn't distinguish one from the other. Then, with a grin on her face she turned back towards her house and headed inside. She had a hunt of her own to get started on and she could hardly wait.

The End


End file.
